


Dangerous Love

by WinterAssassin



Series: 31 Days of AoKasa [2]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: 24yo Aomine, Aged-up Miracle Brats, Crimes & Criminals, Family Drama, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mafia AU, Minor Character Death, Minor OMC/Kasamatsu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 52,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22481482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinterAssassin/pseuds/WinterAssassin
Summary: In his third year of high school, Kasamatsu Yukio is forced by his father to leave with a strange, mysterious man named Aomine Daiki. The two are on the run from an underground mafia family whom Kasamatsu's father got entangled with. Now Kasamatsu has been made a target because he carries something important with him and it is Aomine's job to protect him at all costs.
Relationships: Aomine Daiki/Kasamatsu Yukio
Series: 31 Days of AoKasa [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1617517
Comments: 3
Kudos: 13





	1. Hello

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was already posted on my FF account but this place could always use more AoKasa so I decided to post it here!
> 
> This story is different from the other 31 Days of AoKasa I posted because instead of 31 random oneshots, it is 31 theme's made to fit an entire story.
> 
> Enjoy!

"Hello, my name is Aomine Daiki."

Kasamatsu stared at the tanned skinned man who stood in front of him. He was tall, with dark blue hair and royal blue eyes. He wore a black suit with a navy colored tie and stood straight with his arms folded over his chest. Kasamatsu chewed the inside of his bottom lip as he studied the mysterious man. The eighteen year old finally decided to introduce himself, "Kasamatsu Yukio," he said.

"Yukio," Kasamatsu's attention turned from Aomine to his father. "Listen to me carefully, son. I need you to go with this man. It is very important that you are always with him; never leave his side - understand?"

Kasamatsu stared at his father as if he were crazy. "Dad," he scoffed, "What are you talking about?" The teenager asked with furrowed eyebrows. The serious tone in his fathers voice put him off. "You're scaring me…"

His father shook his head hastily. "Please, Yukio," he said pleadingly. "I'm in some trouble with my work and now our family is in danger."

"Trouble with your work?" Kasamatsu repeated before scoffing. "You work at a bank… Don't you?" The steel-blue eyed teenager asked hesitantly.

The older Kasamatsu only smiled down at him, causing Kasamatsu to frown as his words sunk in. He watched his father turn to the stranger with dark blue eyes, his expression morphing into a rather serious and almost deadly look, one that Kasamatsu has never seen on his father before. "Aomine, please take Yukio now. We can't afford to waste anymore time."

Kasamatsu's lips parted in shock but before he could say or do anything, he was knocked unconscious by the one his father called Aomine.

The older Kasamatsu gave a forced smile, although the pain was evident through it. "Thank you, Aomine." He told the young man, relief in his voice. He watched Aomine hoist his son up in his arms, studying the raven haired teenager one last time.

"It's what you're paying me for, Takeru-san." Aomine replied as he shifted the weight of Kasamatsu in his arms. "I'll be off now. Good luck." The tanned man gave Takeru and nod of his head before he fled the house with the man's son in his arms.

Takeru stared out the open door before closing it softly. He sighed heavily as he wiped the beads of sweat which formed on his forehead. 'You better keep him safe, Aomine Daiki.' The man thought. He wished he could of sent his oldest son with his wife and younger sons but he needed them separate for more protection.

The dark haired man turned from the entry way and hoped that Yukio would take this whole situation better when he came to. However, knowing his son, he knew it would be difficult for the assassin he hired. Takeru paused when he noticed movement from out the window. He quietly approached the window and peered through the sheer curtains and saw a black van pull up in the driveway. He checked his watch before he reached behind and pulled a handgun out from his back holster. Takeru made sure the weapon was loaded before he glanced back at the van. He muttered, "Guess it's time to go to work."

♦ ♥ ♦

When Kasamatsu came to, the first thing he noticed was the throbbing pain coming from the back of his head. The next was that he was being carried in the arms of the same stranger from earlier. However, the more he stared up at his face with confusion, the sooner he realized that what was happening was not some joke by his father.

A bad and horrible feeling settled in the pit of his stomach but he quickly forgot about it when he was suddenly dropped on a dusty, old couch. Kasamatsu coughed from all the dust that flew into the air from the force and waved his hand about. The teenager sat up quickly and glared at the one who was carrying him. "What is your problem?" He demanded, pissed off from this whole ordeal.

"You are, you brat." Aomine answered with an annoyed tone in his voice. He plopped himself down next to Kasamatsu and scratched his ear. "I was planning on taking a break from work but your daddy practically begged me to help him."

Kasamatsu flushed with anger as his eyes narrowed at the taller man. "Is that so?" He asked tensely.

"Yeah," Aomine drawled as he stifled a yawn. "He was ready to beg on his knees and everythi- _nngk_!"

Kasamatsu shook his hand before he rubbed his sore knuckles. "Don't you fucking talk about my father like that, you bastard."

"Tch." Aomine clicked his tongue in annoyance. He wiped the trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, familiar to the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. "Whatever, brat." He uttered out as he got up from the battered couch.

Kasamatsu stood up, as well. "Where are you going?" He asked.

"Away," Aomine responded, "I have no interest in dealing with a temperamental brat like you at the moment."

The raven haired teenager frowned. "But my father told you to not let me out of your sight, didn't he?"

"Yeah. Learn to trust me a bit, would you?" Aomine rolled his eyes as he stepped out onto the rundown balcony.

Kasamatsu stopped at the door to the balcony, his steel-blue eyed narrowed into small slits. "Trust you?" He repeated, scoffing. "How am I supposed to trust someone I just met?" Kasamatsu demanded.

"I don't even know anything about you."

Aomine rolled his eyes at that. He dug around the inside of his dark suit and fished out a pack of cigarette's. "Look, kid – you don't need to know anything about me but if it'll help you sleep at night, my name is Aomine Daiki."

Kasamatsu frowned at being called a kid. He crossed his arms stubbornly, "I'm sure you're not that much older than me, Aomine." The raven head muttered under his breath. He shook his head and added, "And yes, knowing more about a total stranger _would_ help me sleep at night." He expressed cheekily.

The dark blue haired man held back a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm 24 years old. I'm a high school drop-out whose had a shit life and grew up to be a bad guy who will do pretty much anything for the right price. There, happy?"

"... No." Kasamatsu quipped as he let his arms drop to his sides. "But thank you for telling me." He said quietly.

"Great." Aomine pulled a cigarette out and lit it. He took a long drag of it before looking back at Kasamatsu. "Now go to sleep," he instructed. "We'll be leaving pretty early in the morning."

"Fine. But you owe me some answers in the morning." Kasamatsu lamented. He thought that he deserved to know what was happening with his father. The teenager left Aomine to smoke his cancer stick on the balcony alone.

Kasamatsu sat back down on the old, tattered couch and forced his eyes closed. He hoped that everything was all just a terrible dream, hoped that his family would be okay from whatever danger was coming. Kasamatsu's breathing evened out and eventually the steel-blue eyed teenager fell asleep, unknowingly being watched by the blue haired man.


	2. Memory

_Kasamatsu smiled down at his youngest brother; a two month old baby by the name of Naoki. The baby blew bubbles at him, smiling cutely when the teenager gave him a reprimanding look. Naoki giggled._

_The steel-blue eyed teen's second youngest brother ran over. The four year old named Yuuta hopped over a stick, laughing childishly before he was pulling on Kasamatsu's arm gently. Kasamatsu nodded and put Naoki in their mother's arms before allowing himself to be dragged down to the stream by Yuuta._

_By the stream, Kasamatsu noticed his third youngest brother. A fourteen year old middle school student called Kazuki. Kazuki was standing in the water, trying to catch the small fishes that darted by. He was having no luck._

_Their father who stood a few feet away with his fishing rod, was laughing at Kazuki's attempts to catch the smaller fish. Yuuta joined the two in the stream and motioned for Kasamatsu to join them, as well._

_Kasamatsu smiled, unable to hold back a laugh at his brothers' antics. He kicked his shoes off and was about to step into the cool water of the stream until he was suddenly jolted backwards-_

Kasamatsu gasped loudly as he shot up from the dingy couch. His heart hammered in his chest and he was quick to notice Aomine hovering over him. "Wh- What the _hell_ …" He grumbled shakily.

"It's time to go." Aomine informed as he tossed a duffel bag at Kasamatsu. The taller man slung a bag of his own over his shoulder and looked Kasamatsu in the eyes. "That bag is from your father. Do not lose it." Aomine instructed. He walked over to a dusty, chipped dresser and grabbed the clothes atop. He tossed them to Kasamatsu, "Put those on quickly, our ride should be here in five minutes."

Kasamatsu stared at Aomine for a brief moment before doing as he was told. ' _So much for this all being a terrible dream_ ,' the raven head thought bitterly as he changed into the shirt Aomine gave him.

The steel-blue eyed teenager thought about what Aomine said with furrowed eyebrows. Once Kasamatsu was finished dressing, he put the duffle bag over his shoulder and turned to Aomine. "I'm ready." He told him.

Aomine gave him a once over before he gave him a nod. The tanned man put a baseball cap over Kasamatsu's head, giving it a slight tug. "Just be sure to keep your head down and under no circumstances wander away from me." Aomine instructed.

Kasamatsu did not say anything, only reaching up to adjust the cap. He had a frown on his face, thinking this was still so unbelievable. The teenager could feel Aomine's eyes on him but he ignored it until the taller male was leaning down. Kasamatsu faltered as Aomine grasped his chin, forcing him to look up into Aomine's dark blue orbs.

"Do you understand?" Aomine questioned dangerously.

Kasamatsu flushed hotly and smacked Aomine's hand off his chin. "Yeah, I got it." He snarked.

Aomine turned around and lead the way out of the dingy motel room. It was not long until Kasamatsu realized that the hired man had brought them to an abandoned motel in one of the poor districts of Tokyo. Once they got outside and into an underground parking lot of a nearby shopping centre, Kasamatsu spotted two cars parked next to one another.

One of the cars looked brand new while the other appeared like it could get some severe work done. Kasamatsu noticed someone sitting on the hood of the older-looking car, as well as someone sitting inside the nicer car.

"It's about time, Aominecchi." The guy got up off the hood of the car and waltzed up to Aomine and Kasamatsu. "You know how bad I look with this car?" He complained as he ran a hand though his blond hair.

Kasamatsu directed his attention elsewhere, suddenly feeling annoyed by the blond. Aomine smacked the guy, "Shut up, Kise." He barked.

"So mean." Kise whined, despite being all smiles.

Aomine scoffed, "Whatever." The blue haired man surveyed the car and clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Kise, couldn't you pick a better car?"

"Unfortunately it's the only one we could find on such short notice." The guy who was in the other car told Aomine as he stepped out. He brushed the wrinkles from his suit jacket before he continued, "You'll just have to make do, Aomine-kun."

Aomine rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, we're in a hurry - I'll see you later, Tetsu."

"What about me?" Kise huffed with crossed arms.

The royal blue eyed man pushed past the blond, dragging Kasamatsu along, "Goodbye, Kise." He called.

Kise blinked and spun around, a small pout on his face. "Ehh…"

The young adult was pushed into the passenger seat by Aomine. Kasamatsu glared and swatted at Aomine's hand. By the time Aomine was seated, the other two were driving off. Kasamatsu turned away from the window, staring at Aomine. "Who were they?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"Just some guys I work with." Aomine replied gruffly.

Kasamatsu stared at him before he turned his attention back out the window as the drove out of the parking lot. Kasamatsu watched the passing scenery, thinking about the guys who Aomine apparently worked with. "That blond guy seems like an idiot…" Kasamatsu mumbled.

"That's because he is an idiot." Aomine responded, a smirk on his face.

A few minutes of silence passed and Aomine frowned. He shifted gears as he picked up speed. "Didn't you say you wanted answers?"

Kasamatsu arched his eyebrow as he turned away from the window and stared at Aomine. "Are you sure you should be driving all distracted?"

"Don't worry about me, brat. Just ask your questions before I change my mind." Aomine advised.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes at being called a brat once more. "Okay, first of all – I'm not a brat. You're not even that much older than me…" He muttered. The raven head turned his eyes tiredly as he thought about the questions he wanted to ask the most. He chewed the inside of his lip, wondering where he should start.


	3. Fast

Kasamatsu gripped his seat belt as he sunk further into the passenger side seat. "Aren't you going a little too fast?" Kasamatsu asked as he wondered how they never managed to get the attention of any police.

"I know these streets. We'll be fine." The tanned man muttered under his breath, his tone of voice sounding somewhat remorseful.

Kasamatsu stared at Aomine for a few moments before he turned away. He cleared his throat, finally deciding on his first question. "How do you know my dad?" Kasamatsu asked.

Aomine spared the teenager a glance from his peripheral vision before turning his attention back to the road. "I don't. Not really, in any case. I was just hired by him to protect you."

Kasamatsu hummed in response. "Protect me from what?"

The royal blue eyed male sighed. "Look, Kasamatsu, your father was – no, _is_ – involved with people in the mafia. All I know is that he said something bad went down and now they are targeting his family."

"Then what about my mother and my three younger brothers?" Kasamatsu pressed, his hands squeezing the seat belt. He ignored the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and swallowed the lump that was beginning to form in his throat. "Are they okay? Safe?"

"I'm pretty sure they are fine. I heard him talking on the phone; said something about sending them on a 'vacation' with a family friend." Aomine replied.

"A family friend…" Kasamatsu repeated as the information slowly sunk in. He wet his lips as he shifted in his seat. "I guess as long as they are safe. But if he sent them away, does that mean they don't know what's happening with him?"

Aomine shook his head. "Probably not." He answered. "Your father was smart to leave his family out of this for so long."

"Yeah," Kasamatsu said sarcastically. "And look at where we are now." He mumbled dryly, turning his gaze out the window.

The raven head fell quiet, suddenly not up to asking Aomine anymore questions. He decided he had heard enough, for now. Kasamatsu gripped the bag he was instructed to safe-guard and watched the scenery fly by.

♦ ♥ ♦

Kasamatsu was shaken roughly, tearing him out of his dreamless slumber. He blinked his blurry eyes and turned to Aomine, body sore and tired. "What time is it?" He questioned, only knowing that it was late because of how high the moon sat in the starry sky. Kasamatsu stretched and stifled a yawn as he fixed the baseball cap on his head.

The twenty-four year old replied, "It's about half past 2:00." Aomine collected his things from the back seat of the piece of junk car and shut the door. "We're going to be staying here for the night."

Kasamatsu followed the older man's gaze and was met with a flashing, illuminated sign. The teenager read it once, then twice, before he sputtered out in embarrassment, "Wh- Why _here_ of all places?"

"Because." Came Aomine's response. He locked up the beat up car once Kasamatsu finally got out. The blue haired man grabbed Kasamatsu's hand and dragged him towards the brightly lit building. "Keep your head down." Aomine whispered.

Kasamatsu gave the barest of nods and allowed Aomine to direct him inside. The teenager grimaced as he tried to ignore the heavy scent of cigarette, alcohol and perfume mingling together. He made a face but otherwise remained quiet. He nearly bumped into a couple who were a little too preoccupied with each other.

They soon stopped at the front desk and Aomine dropped his hand. "How much for one night, mister?" The blue eyed man asked with a coy smirk as he wrapped his arm around Kasamatsu's shoulders, pulling him close.

Kasamatsu flushed, suddenly glad that he had to keep his head down. His heart beat picked up, hammering inside his chest. All he could smell now was Aomine's cologne and the faint smell of the brand of cigarettes he smoked. The teen could feel the eyes of the man from behind the counter on them.

"It's twenty an hour or one-fifty for a night." The man answered gruffly. "But since I'm feeling generous, I'll let you stay the rest of the night for only fifty." He leered as he licked his teeth.

Aomine smirked down at the man as he handed over the money. "Thanks, mister. Keep the change." The blue eyed man gave the worker a wink as he accepted the room key from him.

Kasamatsu allowed himself to be dragged down the hallway until they ended up in front of a door. It read 110. The raven head watched as Aomine opened the door before gently being pushed inside.

Once inside, Kasamatsu pulled his cap off and surveyed the room with obvious distaste. "You realize this place is probably incredibly dirty, right?" He asked rhetorically.

"Yeah," Aomine agreed nonchalantly, "But it's also a cheap place to sleep." Came the older man's retort. "Besides, these kinds of places aren't likely to be searched."

"Hmph. That's because no one would want to catch anything nasty coming to a freaking _love hotel._ " Kasamatsu whispered harshly, his cheeks turning a rosy color.

"Exactly." Aomine gave the younger man a smirk. He placed his belongings on the bed and turned his back to Kasamatsu as he began to dig around his bag. The tanned male pulled out a change of clothes for himself. Aomine glanced at Kasamatsu as he began to unbutton his shirt, "I'm going to take a shower. I trust you won't wander off?"

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes and spun around, giving Aomine some privacy. The raven haired male crossed his arms over his chest, "What do you take me for?" He asked, annoyed. "Besides, I'd rather not wander around this type of place, thanks."

Aomine walked past Kasamatsu, startling the high school student. "Maybe you would since you are some virgin-ized brat whose wound a little too tight." He quipped, flashing Kasamatsu a rather wolfish grin.

The teenager flushed hotly at Aomine's remark. "Yeah, well-..." Kasamatsu fell silent, nothing left to say to the older man. "J- Just take your shower already. You reek of smoke." He huffed in defiance.

Aomine's laugh followed him into the bathroom, becoming muffled once the door was shut.

Kasamatsu glared at the bathroom for another moment until he eventually decided to sit down on his bed. The teenager ignored the rather soft, silky-feel of the sheets as he yawned loudly. His eyes were heavy, despite having slept while they were on the road. Kasamatsu lied down and figured that he would rest his eyes while he waited for Aomine to finish his shower.


	4. Envy

Kasamatsu rolled onto his side, inhaling deeply in his sleepy state. He furrowed his eyebrows when he breathed in the faint scent of oranges and gun powder. The teenager cracked open his eyes and waited as they adjusted to the morning light which seeped in through the delicate lace curtains.

He blinked sleepily as he stared at the body laying next to his own. Kasamatsu took a moment to register that the half-naked body belonged to Aomine. Surprised, he yelped and moved backwards. Kasamatsu's tangled limbs caused him to flail helplessly before he collapsed on the ground in a huff.

The steel-blue eyed male groaned in pain as he sorted himself out of the sheets. He pushed the covers off of him and when he got up from the ground, Kasamatsu noticed that Aomine had rolled over and was staring at him tiredly. The man yawned and dragged his own sheet over his head. "Do you mind, Yukio? I haven't gotten any decent sleep for at least three days." The assassin complained.

"Don't call me that." Kasamatsu muttered as he rubbed his arm awkwardly.

Aomine moved the sheet from his face and stared at him for a good minute. "Do you prefer _brat_?" He asked.

Kasamatsu pursed his lips and turned away. "Just go back to sleep already." He instructed, arms crossed over his chest. Aomine did not reply so the raven head assumed he did as told, falling back asleep.

The younger man peered around the room in a disturbed fashion as he had done the previous night. Kasamatsu walked over to the mini fridge and was not all that surprised to see different kinds of alcohol stored inside. He sighed and drank some water from the tap, hoping that he would not get poisoned and die from doing so.

The raven haired teen sat on the couch after grabbing his duffel bag. He went through it, curious as to what his father had put in it. Kasamatsu found some medicine and some of his clothes inside and as he dug around the bottom of the duffel bag, he frowned when he felt something small and rectangular. He pulled it out and studied it, wondering why his father gave him a USB flash drive. Kasamatsu shrugged and put it back inside before he zipped it closed. ' _I wonder what that's for...?_ ' The steel-blue eyed teen thought as he grabbed his backpack.

Other than some more garments, Kasamatsu found a small notebook as well as a few keys on a stark blue lanyard. He put it all back inside and zipped it up. Kasamatsu opened the last compartment of his backpack and stared in shock at what he found.

A huge wad of cash was wrapped tightly in an elastic band, sealed in a large freezer bag. Kasamatsu shook his head and put it back where he found it. He pulled out some clean clothes and decided to take a shower while Aomine caught up on his sleep.

♦ ♥ ♦

When Kasamatsu got out of the shower, he was towel drying his hair. He walked out and noticed that Aomine was now awake and smoking a cigarette. "Morning," Kasamatsu greeted the older man.

"I can't seem to get anymore sleep." The dark blue haired man mumbled as he rubbed his face tiredly.

Kasamatsu eyed Aomine, noticing the visible dark circles under his eyes. "... I'm sorry." He apologized. The raven head teenager put his dirty clothes into his backpack and tossed the damp towel on the bed. He turned to Aomine and just watched as the man smoked his cancer stick as if his life depended on it. "You know that's a bad habit." Kasamatsu said suddenly.

"Bite me," Aomine drawled. He blew smoke out at Kasamatsu, smirking when the teenager took a step back from him.

Kasamatsu glared at Aomine. The teen sighed and turned away, his stomach rumbling.

Aomine snuffed out his cigarette and stared at Kasamatsu. "Looks like someone is hungry." He commented.

The younger man flushed, "Well sorry I'm only human." Kasamatsu huffed. He idly wondered if he should bring up the wad of money he found in his bag or not. Before he could make up his mind, Aomine was throwing a shirt on and soon collecting their things. Kasamatsu questioned, "Are we leaving?"

"Yeah. We'll go out the back and find something to eat then hit the road." Aomine explained as he shouldered the duffle bag.

Kasamatsu nodded and put his backpack on then placed the baseball cap on his head. "Where are we, anyway?" He asked.

"Still in Tokyo. But we're leaving today." Supplied Aomine.

The raven head sighed. "Great." He whispered. Kasamatsu cleared his throat, "Can I know where we're going, at least?"

Aomine stayed silent and after a few moments, Kasamatsu knew he was not going to fill him in on the plan he had. The steel-blue eyed teenager frowned but never said anything else. He only followed Aomine out of the room and out of the love hotel. He climbed into the passenger seat of the car. Kasamatsu searched the area out of curiosity and was not immediately impressed by any of it.

The high school student hugged the duffel Aomine placed in his lap as they took off down the road. When they stopped at some fast food drive-thru, Kasamatsu and Aomine gave their orders and paid.

Aomine pulled into an alleyway and the two ate their food in silence, save for the rustling of the wrappers. After a few minutes passed, the older man glanced at Kasamatsu and snorted in amusement when he spotted a smudge of sauce on the teen's face. "I envy you; it must be nice to be so carefree." Aomine said as he smirked.

Kasamatsu glared at Aomine and wiped his face with one of the napkins. He was too hungry to retort with an insult so he continued his meal. Although he could not forget the way Aomine's face looked when he said that about him. It seemed as if he were really telling the truth about being envious.

When they finished eating, Aomine peeled out of the alleyway and they were off on their travels once more.


	5. Lost

Kasamatsu glared at the road ahead of them, clutching his bag close to his chest in annoyance. "You're lost. Just admit it." He uttered to Aomine.

"Not lost." Came Aomine's stubborn retort.

The steel-blue eyed teenager tiredly rubbed at his eyes, "You're lost," he repeated, beginning to feel much like a broken record.

"It's hard to get lost when you don't even have a destination in mind."

"So… You're telling me that we're just aimlessly driving around?" Kasamatsu scoffed, not even able to compute how much of an idiot Aomine was being. "Shouldn't you be doing a better job with protecting me or something?" Kasamatsu asked as he folded his arms over his chest.

Aomine clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Listen, you don't get to tell me how to do my job, all right? Besides, driving around aimlessly makes it harder for the enemy to find us, you see?" The blue eyed man explained as he gripped the steering wheel.

Kasamatsu groaned, his head hitting the back of his seat. "Okay," he nodded. "Fine. We'll go with that." The teenager refused to accept that Aomine knew what he was doing.

The high school student decided to direct his attention to staring out the window with an unimpressed look on his face. He wished he could smack his so-called-protector. Kasamatsu sighed and decided that Aomine was not worth the effort to remain angry at. The raven haired male rubbed at his eyes once more and resorted to staring at his own reflection in the side mirror. He could see the bags under his eyes but did not give a damn considering his circumstances.

Kasamatsu was about to tear his gaze away from his reflection but a dark red car speeding up out of no where caught his attention. He panicked for a split second then thought it must be his imagination. ' _They aren't speeding after us, right? They couldn't be. I mean, Aomine said it would be hard for the enemy to track us if we're just driving around… Right?_ '

"I'm so stupid." Kasamatsu muttered under his breath when he realized that he was foolish to believe anything Aomine said. "Oi," he turned to the older man. "Are they anything to be worried about?"

At the teen's question, Aomine glanced into his rear-view mirror, his hand gripping the steering wheel tightly. "Shit." He cursed as he suddenly took a sharp turn down a smaller road.

Kasamatsu braced himself as Aomine suddenly sped up, taking sharp turns left and right down the not so busy roads of Tokyo. The teenager gripped his seat belt as if his life depended on it and looked at his side mirror again. This time, the red car was now accompanied by a stark black car; however both were hot on their tail. Kasamatsu's heart thudded in his chest, his grip causing his knuckles to go white. The teen swallowed hard, "Aomine…" He whispered.

"I know." Aomine uttered as he came to screeching halt. Just as Kasamatsu was about to open his mouth, Aomine shoved his head down. "Stay low, Yukio." The blue eyed male said, taking a hand gun out from his jacket.

Kasamatsu only nodded, his eyes wide and trained on the gun in Aomine's hand. Aomine switched gears and they sped backwards, getting too close for comfort to the other two cars. Aomine aimed over Kasamatsu's head and pulled the trigger multiple times until he emptied the clip.

Kasamatsu had his hands on his ears, the shots from the gun deafening. Aomine clicked his tongue in annoyance and tossed the weapon at the teen's feet and put both hands back on the steering wheel. He hit the breaks and quickly shifted gears then proceeded to step on the gas pedal. "Hold on, Yukio." Aomine instructed, a wolfish grin on his face as they now drove in the opposite direction.

Once Aomine peeled onto the highway, he reached for the forgotten gun and told Kasamatsu to take the wheel. "I need to reload." Aomine announced as he reached around the teen as he fished for more bullets in the glove compartment. When he found another clip, Aomine quickly reloaded the gun.

"Are you fucking insane!?" Kasamatsu yelled in question, the car swerving as he tried to steer from the passenger's side. Aomine ignored the teenager in favor of sticking his head and arm out the window. He took aim and pulled the trigger a few more times.

Next to him, Kasamatsu grounded his teeth together, "Let me rephrase that; you're insane!" The raven head exclaimed, his ears still ringing from the gun shots.

Aomine sat back down to reload and glanced over at Kasamatsu, his eyes alight. "I'm not insane, kid - I'm alive!" He grinned.

Kasamatsu repressed the urge to shudder from the predatory and animalistic look in Aomine's eyes. He let go of the steering wheel once Aomine reclaimed it. "What now?" Kasamatsu asked.

"Now we head to the airport. I took their wheels out so it will take a while for them to catch up to us." Aomine explained as he switched to the lane with the exit which would lead them to the airport. The tanned man checked his rear-view mirror again and scowled. "However, we now have a different guy on our ass."

Kasamatsu frowned and turned in his seat, craning his neck just enough to see at least three cop cars speeding after them. He scoffed. "What did you think would happen after speeding around and shooting at people?"

"Do you want to live to see your family again?" Aomine retorted.

Kasamatsu's eyes widened. He clutched his bag and fell silent, keeping his steel-blue gaze locked on the floor of the car. His heart squeezed painfully in his chest as Aomine's words echoed in his mind.

" _Shit_." Aomine whispered, cursing his idiotic nature. He fell into an awkward silence as he swerved in and out of traffic.

Aomine pulled his cell phone out from his pocket and dialed a number. He held the device to his ear and tapped on the wheel with impatience. "Come on," he muttered. "Oh, great! Akashi, listen, I need a favor-"

Kasamatsu tuned out the rest of Aomine's conversation. He vaguely recalled hearing the name _Akashi_ before and knew that there was nothing good about it. Nearly a few minutes later, the cops that were after them mysteriously disappeared. Kasamatsu decided that he did not want to know how or why, or even what happened to them.

♦ ♥ ♦

"We're here." Aomine announced once they pulled into the large parking lot of the airport. He found a spot in the back of the lot, far from other people's prying eyes. The older man turned to Kasamatsu and stared at the teenager, whose gaze was still fixated to the floor. "You can't ignore me forever."

The raven head did not reply, he only hugged his bag tighter to his chest. Aomine glared at him. "Yukio, seriously – we don't have time for this shit."

Kasamatsu stubbornly turned his head away and Aomine groaned loudly in annoyance. "Fine." The dark blue haired male snapped as he ripped the bag from the teen's grasp. Kasamatsu's head snapped in his direction, surprised.

Aomine pulled Kasamatsu close to him, as much as he possibly could in the car. The wrapped his arms around the smaller male. "I'm sorry about mentioning your family like that, all right? They are fine and you'll be fine as long as I am with you. Understand?" Aomine pulled away.

He grabbed Kasamatsu's chin to force Kasamatsu to meet his eyes. Aomine noticed the teen's eyes glimmering with tears as he pushed Aomine away forcefully. "Whatever." Kasamatsu mumbled childishly, his lips turned in a small pout. He sniffled as he snatched his bag back from Aomine.

Aomine eyed the teen before he smirked. He pushed his amusement away and went back to business. "Here, you'll need to put these in." Aomine handed Kasamatsu a small white case.

"Put in what?" Kasamatsu questioned. He accepted the case and opened it up and immediately frowned. "Contacts? No way."

"Yes way." Aomine replied. "I had a passport created for you and in the picture you have black hair and green eyes. So go ahead and put those in unless you need some help." Aomine smirked.

"I don't need your help." Kasamatsu claimed as he swatted Aomine's hand away from him. The raven head opened the container and peered into the mirror above him. He carefully picked up one of the contacts and hesitated.

Kasamatsu could feel Aomine's gaze on him so he took a deep breath before putting the contact on his eye. It took a moment to adjust to the new feeling, resisting the urge to rub at his eye. Kasamatsu put the other one in and blinked a few times.

"Good." Aomine spoke. "Take your passport and your bag." The royal blue eyed man grabbed his own bags and the two exited the vehicle.

As they headed for the entrance of the airport, Kasamatsu stared at his passport. He thought he looked odd with green eyes. "Do i want to know when you had the time to do all this?" The teenager asked.

"I have connections." Aomine responded.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes, "Right. I didn't want to know." Despite his current attitude to the taller man, Kasamatsu stepped closer to Aomine. He kept his head down and the baseball cap over his eyes. He found himself gripping the man's sleeve and was about to let go when Aomine suddenly tugged him closer, his bigger hand holding his own smaller one.

Kasamatsu flushed as he wished he could hit or kick the tanned male. The dark haired teenager held his tongue as they passed through the crowds of people. Aomine apparently already purchased the tickets so they made it to the gate in no time after going through security.

♦ ♥ ♦

By the time they were seated on the plane, Kasamatsu was debating whether or not he should ask how easily they got past bag check and security. He wanted to ask but decided against it because he was sure that Aomine would tell him it was related to 'connections', or something similar.

"Aomine, will you at least tell me where we are going?" Kasamatsu asked quietly before he turned his gaze out the window of the plane.

Aomine, who yawned loudly, glanced down at the kid in his care. He looked away and eyed one of the busty flight attendants. "A faraway place called… Germany." He mumbled.

" _Germany!?_ " Kasamatsu repeated. He groaned and leaned back in his seat, not looking forward to leaving Japan, his only home. Aomine nudged him and handed him some ear phones and a stark red phone. Kasamatsu blinked and accepted the device with curiosity. "This isn't yours." Kasamatsu commented, knowing that much, at least.

"Or course not." Aomine snorted. "I got this for you, you brat. So be grateful."

Kasamatsu narrowed his eyes, annoyed by Aomine's attitude. "Thanks," He whispered in spite of himself. The raven head put the ear phones in and found the music on the phone given to him.

He made a face at the selection of the songs but choose not to comment on it simply because he was too tired. Kasamatsu closed his eyes and let the music lull him to sleep, seeing as he had nothing better to do on their flight for Germany.


	6. Anger

"This-... _This is not Germany!_ " Kasamatsu yelled as he hit Aomine with his backpack. The raven haired teen kicked the older man as he let his anger get the better of him. The frustrated teenager punched Aomine for good measure one last time before he walked away, plopping himself down on a nearby bench.

Aomine tilted his head back, staring at the cloudless sky. He sighed heavily and walked past the few strangers who were giving them weird looks and sat down next to the upset teen. He placed his bags on the ground in front of him and glanced at the fuming Kasamatsu. "Look, Yukio, I know you're angry that I lied to you but it was for the best, all right?" The tanned man poked Kasamatsu's cheek softly, thinking that he definitely did not want to let it slip that it was kind of fun to mess with him.

"Well you're going to be doing a ton of apologizing if that is how you'll be acting all the time, _all right?_ " Kasamatsu retorted in a mocking manner once he swatted away Aomine's hand.

Aomine twitched and reached over to pinch the younger man's cheek, giving it a tug before he stood up. "Okay. Let's just go and find a hotel."

"A _real_ hotel?" Kasamatsu asked quietly as he rubbed his sore cheek.

Aomine smirked, "Maybe."

♦ ♥ ♦

"I guess this is a step up from the last hotel." Kasamatsu muttered flatly as he stared at the old-looking motel with disinterest. ' _At least it isn't a stupid love hotel..._ ' The teen thought.

Aomine waved his hand, as if dismissing the teenager's comment. He walked inside with Kasamatsu, quietly telling Kasamatsu to wait in the lobby with their bags. Kasamatsu nodded and sat down, holding his bag close to his chest. He watched Aomine talk business with the clerk before he decided to study the motel.

It was old; telling by the numerous cracks in the walls and the chipped paint, but it still had an odd homey-feeling to it. Kasamatsu sighed. ' _He could have told me that we were going to America and not Germany..._ ' The steel-blue eyed teen felt like if he was ever going to trust Aomine with his life, he would need the assassin to trust him, as well.

Kasamatsu was beginning to think that it would be difficult to learn to trust the assassin. ' _But then again, he does kill people for a living. I probably shouldn't trust him in the first place. But dad seems to trust this man..._ ' The raven head tiredly rubbed at his face, feeling a headache beginning to form because of his racing and conflicted thoughts.

The raven haired teen got up when Aomine waved him over. Kasamatsu followed him down the hall and out the door to where their room is. The pair stopped just outside the door and Kasamatsu paused, wondering what the hold up was. He was just about to question Aomine but then the taller male simply unlocked the door with the key card, and stepped inside.

As soon as they got settled in their two bedroom motel room, Aomine stopped in front of Kasamatsu. The older man wore an unreadable expression on his face, making the younger man blink. Aomine cleared his throat before he patted Kasamatsu's shoulder. "Yukio, I need you to wait here for a while. I have to go take care of some business."

Kasamatsu narrowed his eyes. "Do I want to know what kind of business?" He wondered. ' _If you'd even tell me..._ '

The dark skinned male shrugged nonchalantly. He stepped around Kasamatsu and said, "I gotta go get some supplies so I can make more security for us."

Kasamatsu arched his eyebrow, "Are you being serious?" He asked.

"Tch. Believe me or not, you brat." The assassin scoffed, lightly bumping Kasamatsu's shoulder as he passed by.

Kasamatsu turned and watched Aomine leave. He glared at his back as he took a seat on one of the beds. "I'll just be here, then." Kasamatsu muttered sarcastically.

Just as Aomine was about to leave, Kasamatsu stopped him with another one of his questions. He asked, "Are we going to be staying here for a while?"

The high school student was quite curious, seeing as Aomine was going through the trouble of getting more security for them. Said man stopped at the door and glanced back at Kasamatsu. "That's the plan."

"Then tomorrow we're going shopping for some _real_ food." Kasamatsu stated, the thought not up for debate.

Aomine appeared as if he was going to object but he remained quiet. He eyed their motel room. ' _We do have a kitchenette… Plus it would be better than going out for food everyday._ ' Aomine mused with tight lips. Eventually, he agreed. "Fine."

Kasamatsu smiled in victory. "Great. Now run along." The teenager waved his hand as if he were dismissing a servant or butler.

"Cheeky." Aomine muttered under his breath before he finally took his leave. Kasamatsu watched him leave and took of his baseball cap.

"I'm really getting tired of wearing this, as well as these contacts…" Kasamatsu mumbled to himself. He tossed his cap back on the bed and rubbed at his eyes. He blinked hard from the awkward feeling and briefly wondered if Aomine would get mad at him if he were to take the little itchy abominations out of his eyes.

Kasamatsu sat in silence for a few moments longer, tapping his foot on the carpeted floor. He eyed the bare walls, suddenly feeling the weight of being alone on his shoulders. The raven head's eyes stung when he thought about his mother and younger brothers. Kasamatsu cursed his father as he wondered how a man would get involved in such dangerous things when he knew he has a family to take care of.

The teenager rubbed furiously at his watery eyes until he decided he could not take the feeling of the contacts in his eyes any longer. Kasamatsu stood up hastily and went into the bathroom, taking the contacts out from his eyes. Once they were out, Kasamatsu felt much better. He was about to stare into his own steel-blue eyes.

Kasamatsu sighed and walked back to the bed once he put the contacts in their case. He threw himself onto the bed and rolled in the covers until he was in a comfortable cocoon. He closed his eyes and decided to nap while he waited for Aomine to return; to fill in the void of loneliness he currently felt.


	7. Laughter

Kasamatsu woke up from a nap, not realizing that he had fallen asleep. He peered around the room sleepily and was quick to notice that Aomine was still not back yet. He glanced at the clock next to the bed and frowned. The teenager looked at the draped window as he chewed on his bottom lip. ' _It's been nearly three hours, how is Aomine not back yet?_ '

The raven haired male's nerves made him pace around the room. He wrapped his arms around himself in comfort and approached the window. Kasamatsu reached forward but hesitated. His hand lingered on the heavy curtains which blocked out any light from the setting sun. The steel-blue eyed teen turned away, thinking that it would be a bad idea since he could possibly reveal himself.

Kasamatsu settled for sitting back down on his bed. He glanced at the television and sighed softly. Kasamatsu figured he would not be able to relax in the slightest, at least not until Aomine returned. The high school student cursed his troubled mind.

After pacing around the room for another ten minutes, Aomine finally showed up. He came in with a box in his arms but Kasamatsu ignored that as he approached Aomine. He glared up at him. "Where were you? What happened?" The young man demanded, his fingers curled into tight fists.

Aomine kicked the door shut and set the large box down on the table. He turned and stared down at Kasamatsu, a smirk making its way onto his face. "What's this? Were you possibly worried about me, Yukio?"

"I-" Kasamatsu sputtered out, "I wasn't worried." He denied in a huff.

The assassin chuckled then proceeded to ruffle the smaller males dark raven hair. "Whatever you say, brat." Just as Kasamatsu was about to object to being called a _brat,_ Aomine spoke up again.

"I was just getting all the supplies I needed, okay?" The assassin pointed to the big box he had set down moments ago. "Now I just need to go through all the trouble of putting it all together." He sighed.

"Putting _what_ together?" Asked Kasamatsu.

Aomine began to pull out cords and various wires, as well as small devices. "All these cameras." He stated. "Since I plan on hiding out here for a while, I figured I may as well beef up the security in this place."

"Oh." Kasamatsu nodded. He remembered Aomine saying something about that earlier. He shook his head and watched as Aomine lay everything out neatly. Kasamatsu stared at a small, circular thing that was the size of a tac. "Are these tiny camera's?" He asked.

Aomine nodded, his royal blue orbs landing on the teen. "I'm going to set these up around the perimeter and then hook 'em up to this laptop. I will have eyes on everything." With his final words, the dark skinned man grinned and got to work.

"So should I question how you managed to get all of this, or does it just have something to do with all your _connections_?" Kasamatsu asked with crossed arms.

"The latter." Aomine responded. He smirked down at the younger male. "When you grow up with my kind of life, you learn to make a whole bunch of friends."

"Those are quite the words of wisdom you got there…" Kasamatsu said dryly, heavy on the sarcasm. Aomine simply flashed the high school student another grin. Kasamatsu rolled his eyes in response.

The young man began to piece together all of the equipment while Kasamatsu decided to sit and watch television. The raven head surfed through the different channels and eventually came across an odd re-run of an NBA game. He took an immediate interest.

Halfway through the game, Kasamatsu noticed that Aomine had stopped messing around with all the camera's and cords, his focus now on the match. The steel-blue eyed teen raised his eyebrow as he stared at Aomine. He cleared his throat, catching the taller man's attention. "You like basketball?"

"I was pretty great at it in middle school, for your information." Aomine responded haughtily. He wore a confident smirk on his face as he spoke.

Kasamatsu gave him a look. "You sound as if you've never lost or something."

"Well, the only one who can beat me is me." Aomine shrugged nonchalantly.

Kasamatsu snorted. "Wow." He commented. "I wonder how you're still alive if _that's_ how you are all the time."

"As I've already said – the only one who can beat me is-"

"Is you. Got it." Kasamatsu waved the older man off. "Anyone tell you you're pretty childish?"

"No one would even dare." Aomine replied with a smirk on his face. The blue haired man turned his attention back to his task at hand. He pulled a laptop out from his bag as well as a small USB drive.

As Kasamatsu watched Aomine plug in his USB, he momentarily thought back to the USB he found in his bag. The one his father must have packed in with his other stuff. The teenager was rather curious as to what was on it but did not want to investigate mainly because it could be private.

Kasamatsu shook his head and turned back to the T.V. He watched the rest of the game, all while he thought back to what Aomine said about him being 'pretty great' at basketball.

It made him curious, having been the captain back at his high school. Kasamatsu cringed suddenly. ' _I never got to tell anyone that I was leaving… But then again I didn't really have the chance to. Not to mention, even if I did, I don't think I would be allowed to._ '

The young man sighed softly, cupping his cheeks. He felt bad for not telling any of his team mates or friends. The raven head knew they must be worried since his disappearance. ' _I'm a terrible person._ ' Kasamatsu thought, staring down at his feet.

Kasamatsu glanced over to Aomine and watched as the older man tested the camera's just to be sure they all functioned normally before he went out to set them up. Kasamatsu turned the television off. He got up and walked to where Aomine was at the table. "We should play sometime." Kasamatsu said as he leaned against the wall.

"Play what?" Aomine asked once he placed his laptop down on the table. "Are you telling me you want to get your butt whipped by me at basketball?"

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes, pushing himself off the wall. "Yes. That is _exactly_ what I want." He answered flatly.

Aomine smiled. He turned around, saying, "Maybe when this is all over…"

"I see." Kasamatsu replied.

Aomine turned back to the teenager and patted his head. "So I'm afraid you'll have to wait on being destroyed by me." He grinned in a predatory manner.

Kasamatsu smacked the taller man's hand away before he gave his response. "Just don't get all rusty on me while I get better." The raven head said with a casual shrug.

"Brat." Aomine sneered.

Kasamatsu gave him a mockingly-sweet smile before flipping him off. Aomine snorted and shook his head. "You're dad said you were a nice kid but now I'm beginning to think he only said that to make this job seem less taxing."

"Think whatever you want about _me_. It doesn't change the fact that I still think _you're_ an egotistical idiot." Kasamatsu told Aomine as he sat back down on the bed. The raven haired teen pulled his knees up to his chest as he watched Aomine gather up all the tiny camera's in his big hands.

Aomine shot a look at Kasamatsu over his shoulder. "Is that what you think of me?" He asked.

"Yup." Kasamatsu stated without hesitation.

The assassin hummed as he walked to the door. "I'm going to go set these up around the perimeter. You can sit here and make sure that they are all functioning normally once there up." The tanned male nodded to his laptop which held multiple black screens.

Kasamatsu followed his gaze and stared at the screen. "All right." He agreed.

"If there are any problems, just text me. My number is already on the cell I gave you." Aomine was half out the door when he paused, turning back to Kasamatsu. "And when I get back, I'll be sure to punish you for calling me an egotistical idiot."

"Hmph." Kasamatsu huffed, turning away from the dark blue haired man. He gave his attention to the laptop, not wanting to miss anything.

Eventually, one by one, the camera's came online. Aomine had about ten set up all around the outside of the motel. The angles seemed to cover every inch, leaving no blank spaces. The assassin still had a few more to set up, as well.

The steel-blue eyed teen watched Aomine finish up on the outside before he ventured into the lobby. The tanned male set up the camera's before he came back to their room. Kasamatsu stood when Aomine entered. "Is everything all good?" Aomine asked.

Kasamatsu nodded. "Yeah." He confirmed. The teen watched as Aomine peered at the screen, eyes gliding over each section. He double checked all the camera's before he was finally satisfied.

"Done?" Kasamatsu asked. He was beginning to feel hungry.

Aomine turned to the shorter male, his eyebrow raised. "Were you waiting to be punished by me?"

"Wha- _No!_ " Kasamatsu spewed. "Maybe I should change my opinion of you from egotistical idiot to egotistical _pervert._ "

" _I'm_ the pervert?" Aomine chuckled. "I don't recall saying that I'd punish you in _that_ sense." He grinned.

Kasamatsu scoffed, his arms crossed. "No… But your voice sure insinuated it." The raven head huffed.

"Well either way, I can't let you get away with saying such horrible things about me - so…" The blue eyed man's playful grin turned predatory once more. Kasamatsu faltered and took a step backwards but Aomine advanced on him.

The shorted male's legs hit the end of the bed and caused him to flail as he fell backwards. Aomine chuckled at the brief flash of distress that crossed Kasamatsu's face. "Don't worry," He whispered, " _It won't hurt."_

Aomine crawled on top of the younger man. He took slight satisfaction in the way the raven head squeezed his eyes shut. ' _He looks like he's about to be devoured._ ' Aomine mused, his eyes alight.

The assassin poked Kasamatsu's side, watching as the teen jolted underneath him. He grinned and wiggled his fingers on Kasamatsu's stomach and sides. Aomine tickled the younger male, enticing laughter from him. Aomine himself snorted in amusement as he watched Kasamatsu struggle underneath his weight. "How is that for punishment?"

Kasamatsu shook his head, too busy shaking with laughter to give a proper reply.

"Should I stop?" Aomine asked airily.

The teen nodded hastily, managing to utter out, "Y- Yes! St- stop it or I'll pu- punch you in the fa- ahaha!" Kasamatsu doubled over in his fit of laughter as Aomine continued to tickle him.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that last par- OW!" Aomine pulled back swiftly, reaching up with rub at his cheek. "You really did punch me…" He blinked, somewhat shocked. Aomine pulled his hand from his stinging cheek and stared at it.

Kasamatsu, who was still recovering from being tickled, shrugged. "I told you." He said.


	8. Run

True to his promise, Aomine was soon going to take Kasamatsu out shopping for food. The younger of the two was pleased that Aomine kept his word but he was not about to let Aomine know that. Of course, Aomine was being difficult at first and forced Kasamatsu to wear his contacts and baseball cap. Eventually, the two left the motel.

They clambered into Aomine's car and once Kasamatsu had his seat-belt on, he turned to the older male. Kasamatsu asked, "Is there anything in particular you like to eat?"

Given their little kitchenette, Kasamatsu was not sure how much he would be able to make or serve certain types of meals but he wanted to try his best. The raven head sighed.

The car came to a stop and Kasamatsu soon realized they were already at some local grocery store. "We're here." He stated quietly.

Aomine nodded. "That's the great thing about America," He joked. "There's always a store around every corner." The blue haired man got out of the car and Kasamatsu followed suit. He lead the shorter male into the grocery store and grabbed a basket. "I want teriyaki burgers." Aomine demanded as he headed straight for the meat aisle.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes but followed the assassin nonetheless. "What do you want with them?"

"What do you mean?" Aomine gave him an odd look.

Kasamatsu furrowed his eyebrows. "I mean, what do you want with them? As a side? Do you want pasta, salad, vegetables, fries-" Aomine came to a sudden halt which caused Kasamatsu to nearly crash into him. "What?" Kasamatsu asked, suddenly tense.

Aomine turned to the shorter teen. "Who eats _vegetables_ on the side of a burger?" The older man scoffed.

Kasamatsu groaned. ' _He scared me for a moment there..._ ' The steel-blue eyed teenager thought. He scratched his cheek. "Vegetables are good for you. Besides, I was just giving you options since it seems to be an alien concept to you." Kasamatsu quipped, giving Aomine an odd stare.

"Well I want fries with the burgers." Aomine huffed.

"Whatever you say," Kasamatsu shrugged. ' _Don't worry, Aomine. I'll make you eat your vegetables sooner or later._ ' The raven head thought, making himself a promise. He was pulled from his thoughts when Aomine started to pile a bunch of meat into the basket he had.

Kasamatsu frowned.

Aomine gave him a pointed look.

"What?" Aomine asked. He took a step back but paused when Kasamatsu reached into the basket, pulling out some packages of meat. The younger of the two put some back, making Aomine huff. "O- Oi," He began.

"You can't just buy a whole bunch of meat, you idiot." Kasamatsu reprimanded him. "We don't even have a freezer, just a mini-fridge."

Aomine could feel his eye twitch. "Right." He remembered. The assassin scratched the back of his head, suddenly not knowing what to do. "This is a pain…" Aomine decided.

"You're a pain…" Kasamatsu muttered under his breath. He cleared his throat and spoke up. "We'll just get the meat for the burgers for now and some other foods that don't require a refrigerator, okay?" He suggested.

"Fine." Aomine sighed.

Kasamatsu shook his head. He felt as if he was dealing with his younger brothers whenever he went shopping with them. The teen felt a pang of remorse in his heart, making it feel like a distant memory. ' _Why did this all have to happen to my family? Why couldn't my father lead a normal life?_ ' Kasamatsu was so lost in his thoughts that he did not notice Aomine vanish from sight.

The steel-blue eyed male paused and looked around once he realized the older man was no where in sight. "Aomine?" He called, hesitant. Kasamatsu swallowed the lump in his throat and told himself not to panic. For all he knew, the ganguro-idiot saw something he wanted and ventured away. ' _That's got to be it..._ '

Kasamatsu walked out from the meat aisle and walked by the different food aisles. He was beginning to worry when he never saw a glimpse of Aomine. Just as Kasamatsu was about to let panic sink in, he slammed into someone. The smaller male stumbled back and clumsily tripped over his own foot, landing on his butt. Kasamatsu looked up to see a strange male with two-toned dark red hair and ruby red eyes. He faltered.

" _Sorry, that was my bad._ " The red head spoke in English, reminding Kasamatsu of the fact that they were definitely not in Japan anymore.

Kasamatsu got onto his feet and dusted himself off as he wracked his brain for the English he learned in school. "U- Uhm… I- It's all right." He stuttered out. The teen realized he was great with English in class but suddenly having to use it in real life made him feel awkward and out of place.

The red haired man tilted his head but cracked a smile a moment later. "Sorry," He apologized, this time speaking Japanese. "I'm just used to speaking English here." The man shrugged.

"Oh," Kasamatsu was surprised. "You can speak Japanese…" He suddenly felt embarrassed. Kasamatsu rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Yeah. I'm just here on business." The taller man said, smiling down at Kasamatsu. He stared at the younger man with calculating gaze. He tapped his chin in thought, saying, "You know, you look really familiar. I feel like I've seen you somewhere before, but I'm not sure wh- argh!" The red eyed man was smacked over the head.

Kasamatsu jumped but calmed when he saw it was Aomine standing behind the stranger, and not someone chasing after him. Then, he realized what Aomine had done and frowned. "Oi, don't just go around smacking people on the head with a giant piece of sausage." The raven head told Aomine in his reprimanding tone of voice.

"I wanted to tell you I wanted this for breakfast tomorrow but you disappeared." Aomine ignored Kasamatsu's warning and put the ring of sausage back in the basket.

"Demanding, aren't you?" Kasamatsu twitched.

Aomine shrugged nonchalantly before he grabbed the stranger's face, squeezing his cheeks. The red haired man cursed at Aomine, smacking his hand away. Aomine smirked. "Forget about me, Yukio. When some strange ass creep like this guy comes up to you and starts making _small talk_ , you get the hell outta here. Get it? _You run."_

Kasamatsu furrowed his eyebrows. "Yeah, but-"

"But what?" Aomine questioned with narrowed eyes.

" _But I'm not some strange ass creep!"_ The red head surmised in a harsh whisper.

The three of them drew a few people's attention but they quickly carried on their way when both Aomine and the red eyed male glared in their direction. Said red eyed man whipped his head back to Aomine. " _Ahomine_ , you never told me you were going to America for work."

Kasamatsu raised his eyebrow, "Ahomine?" He repeated, suddenly smirking in amusement. He found Aomine's nickname rather befitting.

Aomine rolled his eyes and sighed over dramatically. "Yukio, this is Kagami Taiga. _Bakagami_ , this is Yukio. He's the brat I need to protect."

"Aka- _err_... He said something about that." Kagami nodded slowly. He was silent for a few seconds but quickly shook his head and turned his attention to Kasamatsu. "Sorry. I'm Kagami Taiga, nice to meet you." He introduced himself properly, holding his hand out for the younger one to shake.

"Kasamatsu Yukio." Kasamatsu responded out of reflex. He blinked his steel-blue colored orbs and idly wondered if what Kagami said was true. About being here on 'business'. Then again, if he was friends with Aomine, 'business' could mean anything, really.

"Anyway, do you get what I was trying to tell you?" Aomine spoke, drawing Kasamatsu from his thoughts. "If a stranger approaches you, you…?"

"Run the opposite way?" Kasamatsu gave Aomine a flat look. "I'm not an idiot like you, okay? I can usually sense these things about people."

"Oh, really?" Aomine countered.

Kasamatsu glared at Aomine, "Yes, really."

"Then what did you think of _me_ when you first laid eyes on me?" Aomine asked in a quiet voice as he took a step towards the smaller male.

Kasamatsu backed into one of the shelves, staring up into Aomine's royal blue eyes. He pursed his lips and looked away. Kasamatsu wanted to avoid the man's intense stare, feeling as if it were peering into his very soul. "I thought you were dangerous." The words left his mouth in a whisper, his stomach in knots and his heart beating a little too fast.

"And now?" Aomine urged once he leaned down close enough to whisper in Kasamatsu's ear. The teenager flushed from Aomine's actions and it made him smirk. He was about to tease Kasamatsu some more but Kagami elbowed his rib cage. "Ow!"

"Serves you right, you predator." Kagami scoffed at him.

"I'm the predator? Bakagami, remember, we're pretty similar." Aomine's grin was wolfish. He earned himself another elbow to the ribs. Aomine grunted and rubbed his side, stepping back from the two of them.

"I don't want to hear that from you." Kagami muttered. He turned to Kasamatsu and gave him an apologetic look. "Don't mind this idiot. Just punch him when you feel the need to, all right?"

Kasamatsu nodded mutely.

"Good." Kagami smiled. "Anyway, I'll talk to you later, Ahomine. See you." The two-toned red head bid them both goodbye and ventured away, disappearing around the aisle.

Kasamatsu watched the ruby eyed man leave before turning to glare at Aomine. Said man blinked in confusion. He questioned, "What?"

The steel-blue eyed teenager just sighed. "Let's just finish our shopping." Kasamatsu huffed out.


	9. Black

Once the two returned from their shopping excursion, Kasamatsu proceeded to put the groceries away while Aomine reviewed the footage from the camera's. The teen finished putting the food away and watched Aomine for a few moments before deciding to get started on dinner since he was still hungry.

After working on dinner for the past half an hour, Kasamatsu was finally finished. He had everything set up and oddly felt a little nervous. He came to realize that he had never entirely cooked for anyone other than his own family. The raven head stared at all the toppings for the teriyaki burger and scratched his cheek.

Kasamatsu could feel Aomine's presence come up behind him. He turned to see Aomine inhaling deeply from where he stood, making the teenager think of him like some animal. Kasamatsu frowned and stepped out of the way so Aomine could get his food. "How did you know it was ready?" He wondered.

"I could smell it," Aomine claimed. The taller man grabbed his paper plate and began to make his burger with all the toppings he wanted. "I was only half joking. I was watching you."

"Am I supposed to feel better about that?" Kasamatsu asked quizzically.

"You're the one acting like a little housewife." Aomine snorted. Kasamatsu kicked him from behind and Aomine grunted, "It's true." He said, in defence of his previous statement.

Kasamatsu sighed and decided that it was best to stand off to the side while Aomine got his share of food. He really did not feel like punching anyone out at the moment, anyway. After Aomine collected his food, Kasamatsu was finally able to get his own plate. Once he did, the two sat down, Aomine at the edge of his bed and Kasamatsu at the table. They ate in silence until Aomine snorted in laughter, causing himself to choke on the food in his mouth.

"Are you okay?" Kasamatsu asked as Aomine pounded on his chest. The assassin nodded and Kasamatsu sighed in relief. "What was so funny?" He asked, curious.

Aomine shook his head, a rather remorseful looking smile on his face. "I was just remembering a time when I was younger… I tried to make some toast but all that came out was a black, burnt piece of charcoal."

"Seriously?" Aomine nodded when Kasamatsu scoffed. The younger man smiled in amusement, wondering, "How do you burn toast?"

"I'm sure you would say that it takes a special kind of idiot to burn toast." Aomine mimicked Kasamatsu's voice, making him sound like a little child. Kasamatsu huffed.

"I guess that means I'm in charge of cooking all the meals." The teen assumed.

The older man shrugged. "We can always eat out," He joked. Aomine shoved the rest of the burger into his mouth, chewing loudly as he got up. Kasamatsu made a face but Aomine ignored the teen's disturbed look as he passed by. "I need to be ready for anything." Aomine supplied.

"Like that could be used for a proper excuse on your poor table manners." Kasamatsu said in a scolding tone of voice. He momentarily thought back to whenever he would reprimand his younger brothers on their own manners at the dinner table.

Kasamatsu shook his head and glanced back at Aomine, only now realizing that the man had said something but Kasamatsu was too lost in his thoughts from the past to hear it. "Sorry, what did you say?" He asked.

"I said my parents weren't much for proper etiquette." Aomine repeated. The dark skinned male deposited his paper plate in the trash and walked over to Kasamatsu. He reached forward and patted the smaller man's head. "It was good."

Kasamatsu blinked, surprised from the compliment. His cheeks tinted pink in-spite of himself. "Just good?" He pushed.

Aomine chuckled. "I'm sorry, Yukio. I meant to say that your cooking is the best." Aomine ruffled Kasamatsu's hair, amused when he pushed his hand away.

"Hmph. I already knew that." The steel-blue eyed teen retorted.

Although on the inside, Kasamatsu was happy that someone other than his own family liked his cooking. He finished his food and began to clean up, wanting to keep everything tidy since they were living in such a small space for two people. Kasamatsu washed the pans and stuck the remaining leftovers in the mini-fridge. The teen stared at the fridge and glanced at Aomine over his shoulder, "Do you know what you want to eat tomorrow?" He asked.

Aomine, who was now seated at the table observing the live feed from the camera's, turned to Kasamatsu. "I'll eat anything you make." He decided with a shrug. Aomine turned his attention back to the laptop in order to monitor the camera's like a hawk.

"Anything, huh?" Kasamatsu mused as he dried off the pan. Once he put the few dishes away, he was left to stare at the clean kitchen area. It dawned on him that he would always see his mother happily cooking and cleaning the day away. Then he suddenly remembered that Aomine had called him a housewife.

Kasamatsu flushed hotly and twitched in anger. "You can just eat your charcoal-toast, you idiot!" He huffed out.

"What!?"


	10. Cloudy

Kasamatsu woke up with goosebumps on his skin. He blinked his blurry eyes and pulled the blankets over his head in order to protect himself from the cold air. The young man slowly got warmed up from the thick covers and eventually poked his head out of the cocoon he was in. Kasamatsu stared at the dimly lit room, his eyes finding Aomine.

The older man was snoring away, blissfully unaware of the chill in the room. Kasamatsu glared at the slumbering man.

The raven head got up and peaked outside the blinds. Rain poured from the dark, cloudy sky. It appeared to cascade down in thin blankets, staining the streets. Kasamatsu hoped his mother, father, and brothers were okay – wherever they were.

Kasamatsu turned away from the window and padded into the kitchenette. He rubbed his nose and sniffled. The teenager put coffee on, wanting to get warm again. He eventually got bored of waiting for the coffee to finish brewing so Kasamatsu decided to start on breakfast.

The steel-blue eyed teen pulled out the small container of milk and package of eggs. He grabbed the bacon and got to work. He fried the bacon and made fluffy scrambled eggs. When he finished, Kasamatsu proceeded to plate the food. He turned and noticed the coffee was finished so he turned it off and poured the hot liquid into two mugs. From all the cooking he had done, the teenager was now feeling hot instead of cold.

Kasamatsu grabbed one of the cups of coffee and spun on his heel. He nearly dropped the cup when he saw Aomine standing just a few feet away. " _Jesus-_ " Kasamatsu breathed out, heart pounding from the startle.

Aomine flashed him a tired smirk. "Is that for me?" The young assassin asked. Kasamatsu just nodded and handed Aomine the burning coffee. Aomine accepted the drink and took a small sip before he walked back to his bed. The older man murmured a quiet thanks.

Kasamatsu was oddly entertained by Aomine's zombie-act. He nearly forgot about the food he made. "Did you want breakfast with that?" The teen asked.

Aomine was about to take a sip from his mug but faltered when he heard the word 'breakfast'. "There's _food?_ " He genuinely sounded surprised, as well as impressed.

Kasamatsu gave him a look. "Yeah." He confirmed. The steel-blue eyed male turned around and retrieved one of the plates. He walked to the older man and handed it over, asking, "Do you not eat breakfast or something?"

"Usually I'm too busy or too lazy to get anything…" Aomine confessed with a shrug, as if skipping the most important meal of the day was no big deal. Kasamatsu gave Aomine a pointed look which Aomine returned with a blank stare. "What?" He scoffed, "It's the truth."

"Well, while you're on this job you'll be eating breakfast everyday. Or, at least for as long as we have money for food." Kasamatsu announced, hands on his hips. Years of being the responsible older brother was beginning to take affect on him outside the house, even when he was dealing with someone he was not related to. In the end, Kasamatsu knew he at least had money hidden away in his bag. Although the teen felt as if it could be used for other things, given his situation.

The high school student quietly finished eating his food before he cleaned up once again. Kasamatsu took a seat on the small love seat and held back a sigh. He saw that Aomine had gone back to surveillance, leaving the teenager with nothing to do. Kasamatsu glanced at the T.V. but decided against it.

The raven head got up and moved to the window. His hand ghosted against the thick drapes and moved a small part out of the way. He peeked out to the world beyond their motel room, watching as the rain continued to pour. Kasamatsu could see cars and people pass by, unaffected by the rainfall.

Kasamatsu faced Aomine, leaning against the wall. "What do you do for fun when you're bored out of your mind?" He questioned.

Aomine turned from the laptop and gave Kasamatsu a predatory smirk. "Stuff little virgins don't need to know about." He replied coyly.

Kasamatsu frowned, his cheeks flushed. "Sorry I asked." He grumbled as he turned his back to Aomine.

The assassin stared at his charge for a few moments longer before he decided to give the surveillance a quick break. Aomine got up and dug around his bag before finally pulling out when he was searching for. He walked over to the younger man and lightly smacked a magazine onto his chest. "This is my only copy, so be careful with it, Yukio." Aomine chided.

Kasamatsu gave him a confused stare before he looked down at the magazine he was handed. He gave it a blank stare until his face erupted into a colorful mess of red hues. "Wha-" He sputtered out.

Kasamatsu threw the dirty magazine back in Aomine's face. "Wh- What the hell is _Busty Beauties XL!?_ " He stammered out, appalled by the man's taste in magazines.

"What?" Aomine squinted. "It's like a playboy. You know, a skin mag." The assassin explained, rubbing the part of his face where Kasamatsu had thrown the magazine at.

" _Skin mag?_ " Repeated Kasamatsu.

Aomine only gave the teenager a disbelieving look. "You're a teenage boy who has never looked at a picture of a naked woman?"

Kasamatsu glared, his face flushed from both embarrassment and anger. "I have other priorities, you know!" The raven haired boy yelled in his own defence. He spun away from Aomine, officially done with having to deal with the pervert.

Aomine only laughed at him. "Wow. I never thought I'd meet anyone like you."

"Should I be offended?" Kasamatsu asked, arms crossed over his chest.

The young assassin shrugged. "I mean it as a compliment. Probably." Aomine smirked.

"Gee, thanks." Kasamatsu said dryly.

The steel-blue eyed teen decided to ignore the presence of the tanned man in favor of channel surfing, despite his lack of interest earlier. Kasamatsu eventually found a channel that was playing some old movie he had watched with his friends back at school. He half paid attention to the film, somewhat entertaining himself with the cell phone which Aomine had given him. ' _I wish I could at least talk to my family..._ ' Kasamatsu thought sadly. He felt a flare of anger for his father but knew it would not help his situation any by being angry at him.

Kasamatsu sighed and lay back on his bed. He rubbed at his tired eyes before shifting into a more comfortable position so he could continue watching the movie. The raven head idly wondered if the day could get any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm gonna take a little break from the chapter spam.
> 
> I'll continue to post soon but if you are impatient then you can find the complete story on my ff.net account under the same name "WinterAssassin" ☺
> 
> Don't forget to drop a kudo ♥


	11. Family

The previous dark and cloudy day bled into a stormy night filled with bright flashes of lightning and loud booms of thunder. The thunder roared and it startled Kasamatsu, making the teenager jump for the fourth time that morning. After for what seemed like an hour, the storm finally quieted. It was then Kasamatsu decided to get out of the comfort of his blankets and take a shower.

The raven haired teenager spared a glance at Aomine, seeing that he was completely out cold. Kasamatsu collected some clean clothes and walked into the bathroom. He shut the door behind him and peeled off his clothes. His skin prickled from the chill in the air but Kasamatsu ignored it and turned the water on. He stood in the hot water, enjoying the heat that cascaded down his skin.

After cleaning himself, just when he was about to deem himself sparkly-clean, Kasamatsu heard a faint noise. The raven head tilted his head as he tried to listen over the sound of running water. When he could not hear anything else, Kasamatsu shrugged, thinking it was his imagination. He shut the water off and pushed the shower curtain out of the way. A figure a couple feet in front of him nearly made him slip. " _Holy shit-_ " Kasamatsu hissed, his hand darting to his chest from the shock of seeing Aomine.

"Good morning, Yukio." Aomine murmured out after he yawned loudly. The taller man turned around once he zipped up his fly. "Flush that when you're done." He said sleepily.

"Yo- You can't just walk in here!" Kasamatsu said defiantly. He grabbed a clean towel and shielded himself from Aomine's half-asleep gaze.

Aomine blinked, as if still processing the words. "What's the big deal?" He complained after a moment of thought. "We have the same parts, you know." Aomine stated.

"It's called privacy for a reason." Kasamatsu quipped. The teen wrapped the towel around his body as he stepped around the assassin. "Or did your parents not teach you about that, either?"

Aomine, who was about to leave, stopped. He turned to Kasamatsu and studied the younger man. He tilted his head, thinking back to when he was younger. "My parents didn't teach me much, actually." Aomine recalled, his voice soft and calm.

Kasamatsu tensed as Aomine came out of his thoughts and walked closer to him. The younger man backed into the wall, Aomine casting a shadow over him as he stood close. Kasamatsu's heart beat fast in his chest, not sure of what Aomine was doing. The assassin's presence made him feel small and inferior in a way, which Kasamatsu did not like. He stared into Aomine's royal blue orbs until he could not take it anymore, and looked away. Then, in a small voice, he asked, "What?"

Aomine stared down at Kasamatsu for a few more seconds until he finally backed away. A small smirk made its way onto his face, unnerving Kasamatsu. "It's nothing." Aomine told him.

Kasamatsu was annoyed and off-put by the look Aomine had on his face when he mentioned his parents. However, when Aomine left him alone in the bathroom, Kasamatsu was relieved. The young adult began to dry himself off, thinking of how Aomine must have been making fun of him again. It only fueled his annoyance. Kasamatsu just brushed it off while he got dressed, all the while ignoring the quick beats of his heart.

♦ ♥ ♦

At the current rate of how his life was going, Kasamatsu got to thinking. He began to wonder if he would ever finish his high school career, if he would get to go to a great university like his parents wanted, or even get a good job. He even wondered if he would live to see the next day – but quickly shut down that kind of thinking.

By the afternoon, Kasamatsu's mind was muddled and it was beginning to give him quite the headache.

The teenager got up and searched his bag for medicine and was left feeling disappointed when he could not find the kind he was looking for. He found it odd that his father packed different kinds but not the most simple one needed to remedy a headache. Although he supposed it _was_ just a headache. He could deal with it.

"What are you all mopey for?" Aomine's voice startled Kasamatsu, the teen jumping somewhat.

Kasamatsu craned his neck to stare up at Aomine. He could not help but feel awkward around the older man, blaming it on the incident earlier that day. Kasamatsu lowered his head, staring at his bag. "I was just looking for something for my head. I just have a bad headache." Kasamatsu admitted.

Aomine hummed in response. The older man got up and grabbed the car keys. "No medicine but we can get some when we get more groceries." The royal blue eyed man offered, motioning for Kasamatsu to get up.

Kasamatsu just shrugged. "We don't _have_ to but whatever." The eighteen year old grabbed his bag and followed after Aomine. He changed the subject, "What do you want to eat?" He asked. Earlier they had leftover's for breakfast, Kasamatsu having to tell Aomine that it was bad to waste food.

"I want tamago-yaki." Aomine replied quickly, as if he had been waiting for the question. "I decided I want to eat more breakfast... Even if it isn't a breakfast time." He shared.

"I'm assuming you want that sausage thing which you used as a weapon the other day with it, right?" Kasamatsu smiled as Aomine grunted. "I'll take that as a yes." He said curtly.

The teenager knew the protocol by now and entered the bathroom where he kept his contacts. He put them in, vaguely wondering if he will ever get used to them, before he was ready. Aomine placed the baseball cap on his head to hide his hair and soon they were off.

The pair made it to the grocery store they visited the other day and proceeded to do more shopping. Kasamatsu almost felt as if life was normal, even if it was just for a second. The welcoming feeling was immediately halted when Aomine stopped walking, causing Kasamatsu to smack into his back.

The teen stumbled back and tensed. As he was about to ask what was wrong, Aomine spoke first. "I'll be right back." The assassin offered before he disappeared out of the snack aisle. Kasamatsu watched the leave and suddenly felt awkward as he stood and waited for Aomine to return. He rubbed his arm and tried to distract his nerves by looking at all the new and interesting snacks America had to offer. Kasamatsu grabbed a few and added them to their basket almost filled with meat and fresh vegetables and fruit. They also had the headache medicine for Kasamatsu, as well as a deck of cards just for boredom's sake. Aomine even offered to get Kasamatsu a book, albeit the book would be in English, given their location.

Kasamatsu was about to put the basket down but a glimpse of a small child caught his eye. He turned his head, staring at the end of the aisle. ' _I'm going crazy,_ ' Kasamatsu thought incredulously. ' _That couldn't have been Yuuta. Yuuta is safe on an island with mom and Kazuki._ ' The raven head told himself. He did not like worrying and fretting over nothing.

The child's laughter chimed in the aisle next to him and it reminded him of all the shopping trips he went on with his mother and brothers. It made his heart ache, the pain almost making him forget about his throbbing headache. His eyes burned so Kasamatsu reached up to wipe at them, wiping away the salty drops which threatened to spill down his cheeks.

He jumped when he felt a hand land on his shoulder but sighed in relief when he realized it was just Aomine and not some stranger sent to kill him or something. "Is everything okay?" Kasamatsu asked. He sure hoped that everything was okay.

"It was just a false alarm." Aomine told the steel-blue eyed teenager. "Anyway, let's just go pay for all this stuff and get outta here."

Despite it being a 'false alarm', Kasamatsu shared Aomine's urge to hurry and get out of there. He nodded his agreement and the two headed for the check out. Once Aomine paid and thanked the lady, they took their groceries and left, the air still tense and heavy.

They made it back to the motel in record time. Kasamatsu put the groceries away while Aomine went to make sure that they were not followed. The high school student watched him leave and told himself that Aomine was only doing his job. A job which his father was apparently paying him to do.

Kasamatsu sighed, putting the last of the non-perishables away into the small cabinet. He looked around the kitchenette, studying it. He put the plastic bags in the drawer and turned just in time for Aomine to come crashing through the door with a strange man on top of him. The two landed in a heap but the stranger quickly regained himself and was wrapping his hands around Aomine's throat.

Kasamatsu watched in shock as Aomine let out a strangled noise as he struggled to knock his opponent off of him, releasing his hold on his throat. The blue haired man coughed as he tried to regain his breath but the stranger came at him full force again. Aomine was pinned but he managed to switch their positions so he was now pinning their attacker.

The pale man shouted at Aomine in English. His words were too fast for Kasamatsu to pick up on but Aomine seemed to understand. He swung at the tanned man several times but only managed to land a few solid hits which Aomine returned.

Aomine managed to punch the man square on the nose; the sound of bone crunching making Kasamatsu cringe. The shocked teenager did not know what the hell to do so he moved away from the fight. All the while his brain was running a mile a minute trying to think of possibilities and options, wondering how or why they managed to track him down so fast. His thoughts were interrupted when the man suddenly pulled out a gun. He waved it around wildly, shouting. His actions caused the assassin to pull out his own weapon, aiming it directly at the stranger.

Kasamatsu's heart was in his throat, his blood running cold. He hoped that no one would pull the trigger, not wanting to see any of that.

" _Put the gun down,_ _ass-hole_ _!_ " Aomine yelled in English. The assassin took a step closer to their attacker, gun trained on the man's head. " _Drop it._ " He whispered harshly.

The man's will faltered and in that moment of hesitation, Aomine was on him. He knocked the gun from the guy's hand and smashed his own weapon over the man's head. It must have been strong enough to knock the man unconscious because he collapsed on the ground, still as a rock. The brief silence was interrupted by the uneven breaths Aomine drew. The assassin sat on the ground, grasping his left arm. He regained his breath and glanced at Kasamatsu, muttering a quiet, "Sorry."

Kasamatsu shook his head as he stared at Aomine with wide eyes. His heart pounded in his ears which made it hard to hear Aomine, but he knew what he said. The teen remained silent as he slowly turned his gaze on the unconscious man. His lips parted to say something but no words came out.

"Don't worry," Aomine began, as if reading the younger man's thoughts. "This guy wasn't here for you. He was a guy who has been after my head for a few years or so." As Aomine explained, Kasamatsu felt himself calm down, just a bit.

"Okay," The raven head managed to whisper out. He did not know what else to say. Kasamatsu watched Aomine get back up with a grunt. He was about to ask if he was okay but Aomine interrupted him.

"Yukio, you wait here while I go deal with this piece of trash as well as the manager." Aomine wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, smudging it on his cheek.

"Uhm-" Before Kasamatsu could say anything, Aomine was already dragging the unconscious man out of their room. The teenager stood still until he snapped out of his stupor. Kasamatsu walked back into the kitchenette, still unsure of how to feel.

At least he knew the man was not here for him, but for Aomine. He vaguely wondered what his beef with the assassin was but quickly remembered that Aomine was indeed an assassin. His thoughts switched to Aomine saying he was going to talk to the manager. Kasamatsu was sure someone must have called the cops judging by the screaming and loud crashes the two caused in their battle.

The eighteen year old's thoughts were so jumbled that he still did not know what to feel. Kasamatsu looked at the ground where the pieces of glass lay scrambled around. During Aomine's fight, they much have knocked over one of the glasses. Kasamatsu crouched down and began to pick up the pieces, not wanting Aomine or him to step on it. The teen cursed when he cut his finger on a shard of glass.

Kasamatsu got up and went into the bathroom, running cold water over his cut. He watched the blood mixed with water go down the drain. He gently dried the water off and exited the bathroom. He found Aomine standing by the door, his face twisted in anger.

"Fucking manager!" He swore loudly, throwing a cloth onto his bed.

Kasamatsu looked at the cloth, seeing parts of it stained red with Aomine's blood. His head shot back to Aomine. "Are you okay?" He asked, fingers squeezing the fabric of his shirt in worry.

"Huh?" Aomine asked stupidly before he caught on. "Oh. The bastard pulled a knife on me and I guess he cut me. Don't know when, though." Aomine scoffed. The taller man walked into the bathroom and Kasamatsu trailed in after him. The look on his face made Aomine chuckle. "You look almost as if you care, Yukio."

Kasamatsu tore his eyes away from Aomine's bleeding arm in favour of staring at Aomine's face. It took a moment for the man's words to register but when they did, Kasamatsu scoffed. "Don't get your idiotic hopes up. You're supposed to protect me, remember?"

"I didn't forget." Aomine responded as he gingerly pulled his shirt off. Kasamatsu caught a small glimpse of pain flash across Aomine's face and remembered that despite being an assassin, he was still human.

Kasamatsu stepped forward, lightly touching Aomine's injured arm. The area around the cut was an angry red, Aomine's blood dripping down freely. He studied the wound, wondering how much it actually hurt. "You're crazy." Kasamatsu told Aomine.

"I'll take that as a compliment, now get outta here while I fix this. I- ow!" Kasamatsu gave Aomine's arm a light flick. The royal blue eyed man glared down at Kasamatsu. "What are you doing, Yukio?" He huffed.

"Taking care of your wound, what does it look like?" Kasamatsu asked rhetorically. The raven head made Aomine lean against the counter. "Now... Where do you keep all your medical supplies?"

Aomine diverted his gaze away from Kasamatsu. "In the side pocket of my bag." He answered. Kasamatsu patted his shoulder, making Aomine wince. "Easy." Aomine complained.

The steel-blue eyed teenager found Aomine's bag half kicked under his bed. He pulled it out and grabbed the medical supplies from the side pocket. He stared at the small first aid kit and brought it back to the bathroom with him.

Kasamatsu opened it and began to clean Aomine's arm of all the blood. He glanced up into the royal blue orbs of the older man. "So what did the motel manager say?"

"Just robbed me for some hush money." Aomine spat, still pissed about how much the manager wanted. "But its fine now." He added. As long as the cops did not get involved.

Kasamatsu only nodded. Once he finished cleaning Aomine's wound, the teenager pulled out some rubbing alcohol. He poured it on a damp cloth and pressed it against the cut. Aomine hissed from the stinging pain and Kasamatsu gave him a stern look. "Don't move." He ordered before smearing a topical ointment over the wound.

The raven haired teen determined that Aomine's cut was not as bad as he originally thought. Kasamatsu was sure he did not need stitches. He put a piece of gauze over his cut and told Aomine to hold it tight while he taped it down with medical tape. Once he finished that, Kasamatsu then wrapped Aomine's arm with some bandages. Kasamatsu stepped back once he was done and smiled, "There, all done." He wiped his brow.

Aomine gave Kasamatsu a calculating stare. "What? No kiss to make it better?" He questioned with a smirk.

"How about a slap?" Kasamatsu suggested happily, a slight threatening glare in his eyes.

Aomine chuckled as he pushed himself off the sink counter. He looked at himself in the mirror, staring at the bandages wrapped around his arm. The blue haired man's eyes flicked to Kasamatsu, staring at the shorter male through the mirror. "Yukio, tell me something," Aomine wet his lips, leaving the bathroom after the high school student did.

"What?" Kasamatsu asked once he put the first aid kit back where he found it. He faced Aomine, eyeing him as he leaned against the wall.

Aomine stared back before asking, "Why do you care so much?"

Kasamatsu looked at him before he turned away, abashed. "Because," He breathed out. "You're the only family I've got right now." With that confession, Kasamatsu curiously peered back at Aomine, his steel-blue orbs meeting his royal blue ones.

Aomine broke eye contact after a few moments, making his way over to his bed. "Aren't you one with words?" He smirked.

The older man reached in his pocket and handed Kasamatsu a band-aid. "That's for your finger. You don't want it getting infected." Aomine told the younger man as Kasamatsu accepted the band-aid.

"Thanks." Kasamatsu smiled softly.


	12. Wish

The next day, Aomine was still on high alert due to the events which occurred the previous day. Although he somehow convinced Kasamatsu that the man who had it out for him did not want anything to do with the teenager, Kasamatsu was still on edge. The pair stayed in and ended up watching some old, low-budget horror film that was playing on T.V. It was more hilarious than scary, enticing the two to make fun of the film.

After the movie ended, Kasamatsu got up from his spot on the bed and decided to make some food. While he busied himself in the kitchen, Aomine went back to his post at the table, watching the feed from the camera's.

Once the food was made, the two fell into their routine of eating together. When they were done, Aomine went back to the laptop while Kasamatsu cleaned up. After a couple hours however, Aomine decided to go to sleep. He took some medication for the pain in his arm and seemingly as soon as his head hit the pillow, he was out.

Kasamatsu stared at the tanned skinned man before he decided to entertain himself with the phone Aomine gave him. He checked the news in Japan, wondering if there was anything on his situation or even about his family. However, as much searching as he did, Kasamatsu could not find anything about it. The steel-blue eyed teen wondered if this was because of the people looking for him or even because of his father.

When the young adult had enough of skimming the news, he got up and made a beeline for the window. Kasamatsu moved the drapes just enough so he could peek out without revealing himself much, if at all. The teen could see a couple kids riding by on their bicycles. They were laughing and shouting at each other. It reminded him of his Yuuta and his friends.

Kasamatsu chewed his bottom lip. He turned away from the window and resisted the urge to sigh out of boredom for the umpteenth time. The raven head vaguely thought about going to sleep but then changed his mind. He did not want to wake up early, having nothing else to do but make food and find ways to entertain himself in this stuffy motel room. Not to mention, Kasamatsu did not want to have another haunting nightmare about people killing him and his family.

It almost made Kasamatsu hate his father for putting them all through this. He almost wished he had a different father. He also hated the fact that despite all the trouble his old man caused, he still loved him.

Kasamatsu shook his head, finding that he must be a terrible son for thinking such things about his own father. He took a deep breath in and released it slowly. The teenager sat back down on his bed and turned to look at Aomine who was peacefully slumbering the evening away. Kasamatsu studied the assassin for a moment before deciding to make himself a light snack.

He was beginning to feel hungry, despite the late lunch they had a few hours ago. As Kasamatsu stepped into the kitchenette, the teenager nearly tripped over his feet when he heard a light rapping on the door. Kasamatsu froze, his heart skipping a beat as a child ran through his body.

His mind flashed back to the man who had pretty much tackled Aomine through the door. Kasamatsu pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, instead going over his options. He could either check who it was through the peephole on the door or he could wake Aomine, and-

Kasamatsu ground his teeth. He knew that Aomine was supposed to be his protector but that did not render the teenager completely useless. Kasamatsu drew in a breath to calm himself down and slowly padded to the door. He peered through the peephole and furrowed his eyebrows. Kasamatsu took a step back and went back to his options. He decided it was best to wake Aomine since he was not sure what to do.

The raven haired male walked over to Aomine's bed. He leaned over the man, poking his cheek. "Oi, Aomine," He said lightly. Aomine stirred. Kasamatsu continued, "Your friend is here."

The dark blue haired man rolled away from him, still tired from the drugs he took for his pain. "I don't have a friend..." Aomine slurred sleepily. He managed to pull the blanket over his head.

Kasamatsu sighed. "But it's the guy from the grocery store. Uhm... Kagami – or something?"

Aomine was quiet for a second until he spoke up, "Bakagami?" He questioned slowly.

"Yeah, er, _no –_ that's rude." Kasamatsu scolded. "Anyway, just get up already! He's at the fucking door." The raven head lightly smacked the arm that was not injured. He was getting impatient and was beginning to feel bad for making the man wait.

" _Okay_ ," Aomine stressed. "Just give me a 'sec." He mumbled, pushing himself out of bed. He groaned lightly before making his way to the door, rubbing his sore arm. Aomine looked through the peephole just to be sure before he opened the door to reveal one Kagami Taiga.

"Oi, Bakagami," Aomine grumbled. "Don't you have better things to do then stalk me and my charge?"

"Shut up," The two-toned red head pushed past Aomine, walking into the room. Kagami spun on his heel as Aomine closed the door behind him. "Being the nice guy that he is, boss wanted me to give you a few things you may need."

Kagami handed Aomine a dark red duffel bag. The blue eyed man accepted it and stared at it before an annoyed look appeared on his face. "You can tell _the boss_ that he can mind his own business. I can handle this job on my own."

The ruby eyed male nodded. He glanced at Kasamatsu who was perched on his bed, watching them cautiously. Kagami's expression changed into something almost unreadable for a brief second before he offered the teenager a friendly smile. He nodded in greeting which the raven head bowed his head politely in return. Kagami wet his lips before he spoke, facing Kasamatsu. "You look different with green eyes. I think I like your real eyes better." He stated.

Kasamatsu's hand shot to his face. He realized that he forgot he had his contacts in. Kasamatsu blinked his eyes, also unsure of how he should take Kagami's words. Said man was facing Aomine again. He leaned close to the tanned man, whispering to him, "There is some updated information about your mission you need to read."

Kasamatsu turned away. The teenager wondered if he should be worried about this apparent new information that Aomine received. Then again, Kasamatsu was sure that Aomine would probably not tell him directly, either way. The raven head sighed and rubbed at his eyes.

"See you later, Kasamatsu-kun." Hearing his name, Kasamatsu looked up to see Kagami waving at him. Before Kasamatsu could even say anything or even wave back, the red head disappeared out the door. He just watched Aomine peer out the door, as if making sure no one had seen Kagami leave from their room.

Aomine turned from the door and walked back to his bed. He dropped the duffel bag on it and muttered under his breath about not needing help. Kasamatsu tuned Aomine's muttering out and lay back on his own bed, staring up at the ceiling. The teen could not help but think about whatever this new information could be. It made him uneasy and feeling like something bad was going to happen.


	13. Hope

Kasamatsu awoke the next day to Aomine pacing around the room.

The assassin wore a conflicted look. However, when Aomine noticed that Kasamatsu was now awake and staring at him, his expression changed. Aomine's lips parted, as if he was about to tell the steel-blue eyed teen something, but nothing came out. Aomine approached Kasamatsu, staring down at him. He pursed his lips and turned around, walking to his bed. Kasamatsu frowned.

"What is it?" The raven head asked.

The assassin shook his head. "It's nothing important, Yukio." He ran his hand through his short blue hair, taking a seat on his bed.

"Are you sure?" Kasamatsu pressed. The same uneasy feeling he felt last night came flooding back, making him shift awkwardly on his bed. The teenager eyed Aomine, asking quietly, "What aren't you telling?"

Aomine turned his attention to Kasamatsu, staring into his steel-blue eyes. The man smiled. "Don't worry so much, Yukio. It's nothing bad." The young assassin got up so he could ruffle Kasamatsu's hair in a comforting manner.

"Then why can't you tell me?" Kasamatsu asked softly.

Aomine turned away. "Because it requires me to think carefully on our next move."

Kasamatsu nodded slowly, "Fine." He said. "But when you make up your mind, you have to tell me." The raven head told the older man, arms crossed. "Promise me."

"I promise." Aomine vowed after he gave Kasamatsu's head one last pat. The blue eyed man turned away and grabbed a towel, slinging it over his shoulder, deciding to shower. "I'll be out in a few." He told Kasamatsu, before disappearing into the bathroom.

Kasamatsu stared at the bathroom door as he thought of what to do. He eventually decided to start on breakfast since his stomach was grumbling. He glanced at the clock and found that it would be a late breakfast, since it was nearly noon. Kasamatsu got up and headed for the mini-fridge, only to pause when he saw movement on the laptop from his peripheral vision.

The teen approached the laptop, staring at the screen intently. A tall man in a dark suit appeared to be shifting around the lobby. Kasamatsu watched the man go to someone's door, knocking on it. When someone opened it, the man started talking to them. Although despite being able to see them, Kasamatsu could not hear them because the audio was not connected. Kasamatsu used that moment to glance over to their door. He bit his lip, wondering if he should disturb Aomine's shower or just wait for him to come out. After all, the man did say that he would be out in a few minutes. The teen sighed.

Kasamatsu went back to watching the man. Watching him knock on people's doors, talking to them for a minute before moving onto the next room. After a few more doors, the man walked away, disappearing from the camera's view. Kasamatsu tensed but relaxed slightly when he noticed the man appear back in the motel's lobby. He released a breath and stood up straight.

Instantly, he felt a presence directly behind him and it startled him. Kasamatsu yelped and spun around swiftly, his foot getting caught on part of the carpet which stuck up. The teen flailed as he lost balance, falling backwards. The one behind him, which only turned out to be Aomine, managed to outstretch his arm in order to help the teenager. However, without much thought, Aomine used his injured arm.

It was a mistake; the two ended up falling back onto Aomine's bed. The older man at least managed to turn them around so Kasamatsu landed on top of him, instead of the other way around. Kasamatsu blinked when he processed what had just happened. He looked at Aomine who had a towel wrapped around his waist. Kasamatsu flushed and was about to push himself off of Aomine but the man suddenly used his good arm to wrap around Kasamatsu's waist, flipping them.

The raven head was both confused and stunned for a good few seconds until he realized that Aomine had him pinned. He sputtered out, "Wh- What are you doing?" His face burned scarlet.

Aomine stared down at the younger man, his royal blue orbs unreadable. His stare made Kasamatsu shiver slightly, causing the teen to remember the same unreadable look in his eyes days prior. After a couple more seconds, Aomine told Kasamatsu, "I've made up my mind."

Kasamatsu faltered. He stared at Aomine, his memory flashing back to what he said earlier and instantly he knew what Aomine meant. Kasamatsu waited for Aomine to continue talking. He wanted to know what was happening. What the information was and what they were going to do about it.

"Tomorrow we are going to head back to Japan. It was brought to my attention that if we stay here any longer, the enemy will find us." Aomine informed Kasamatsu, holding true to his promise.

Kasamatsu furrowed his eyebrows as the information sunk in. He thought about another thing. "What about my family?" He asked.

Aomine finally pushed himself up off of Kasamatsu. "Nothing bad. They are fine, Yukio." Aomine replied. He fished clean clothes from his bag and put them on, leaving Kasamatsu to sort out his thoughts.

Kasamatsu glanced at the laptop, wondering if he should mention the man who was knocking on people's doors to Aomine. However, when he looked back at the part of the screen which showed the lobby, the man was gone. He looked at all the other areas and saw no sight of him.

The teenager pushed the thought of the man in the back of his mind, the sudden happiness of being able to go home filling his thoughts. Kasamatsu smiled, thinking that he would be able to see his family again soon. He was beginning to feel hopeful – something he had not felt in quite a while.

♦ ♥ ♦

The next day, Kasamatsu was the first to wake up.

His eagerness to return home to Japan would not dissipate and he wanted to be on his way already. He thought about what would happen by going back to where this all apparently started and how hard it may get – but he decided he would help Aomine as best he could.

Kasamatsu glanced at said man, seeing that he was still fast asleep. Kasamatsu sighed lightly, just wanting to be on their way. He got up and poked the arm that was not injured. The man's reaction was to roll away from Kasamatsu. It made the teenager twitch. "Aomine, wake up!" He called.

"No..." Aomine murmured sleepily.

Kasamatsu pulled the covers away. "Come on, I don't want to miss the plane."

"Okay, okay," Aomine chided. He yawned loudly, stretching. "You don't need to yell at me."

"I wasn't yelling." Kasamatsu pinched the bridge of his nose. He turned around to let Aomine fully wake up, heading to the coffee maker. He made coffee and waited for it to brew.

When it finished, Kasamatsu brought the steaming hot coffee to Aomine, which the man accepted gratefully. Aomine took a sip of the dark liquid, humming in thought. Kasamatsu raised an eyebrow at him and Aomine just smirked. "I just find it funny that you know how I like my coffee." Aomine told the younger man.

"How's that funny?" Kasamatsu made a face. Aomine shrugged and the teenager rolled his eyes. Kasamatsu decided to change the subject. "So on another note, I have all my things packed and I'm ready to go." Kasamatsu even had his green contacts in, despite his hatred for them.

Truthfully, the teenager was awake in the early hours of the morning and decided to make sure everything was packed properly. That was when he also put his contacts in. However, due to being up so early, Kasamatsu had fallen asleep soon after. He was just glad that his contacts did not disappear into his head or something while he slept with them in.

Aomine had downed the last of his coffee and got up. He changed and made sure that he had all their belongings. It was yesterday that the assassin decided to leave the camera's set up. He did want to take his laptop though. He figured the motel owner would like the present, anyway. Aomine picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder. He turned to Kasamatsu, "All right, let's go. I don't want to keep you waiting and get smacked by you or something."

"Don't make me." Kasamatsu said offhandedly. The teenager watched Aomine give the room one last once-over. "I already checked and double-checked everything, Aomine." Kasamatsu told the assassin.

"Well, I just need to triple-check. It helps to have another pair of eyes." Aomine said in his defence. After he finished, Aomine picked up the duffle bag that Kagami had brought him, as well as his other bag. Kasamatsu was holding his bag and already had his backpack on. "Okay, let's go." Aomine walked out the door, Kasamatsu following.

The pair checked out at the front desk in the lobby. Aomine gave the manager a glare for good measure, reminding Kasamatsu that the older man had given the manager 'hush money'. When they got outside, the car Aomine went to was completely different from the one the had before. Kasamatsu just assumed it had something to do with one of those 'connections' Aomine had.

♦ ♥ ♦

By the time they arrived at the airport, the sun was high in the sky.

Kasamatsu breathed in the fresh air, glad to be out of that stuffy motel room for good. That room was beginning to smell like cigarette's. Kasamatsu adjusted his cap and decided to focus on the thought of returning to Japan after quite some time. It was going to be difficult but Kasamatsu found that he trusted and believed in Aomine. No matter how much of a jerk he could be.

They left the car in the underground parking lot and ventured into the airport. Aomine told Kasamatsu to keep close to him. The pair approached a short, chubby man. The teenager watched Aomine hand him some cash and soon they were in a restricted area, being lead down winding hallways.

When they exited, Kasamatsu was happy to see that they ended up in the waiting area for a flight that was heading to Tokyo. The short man who lead them here disappeared so the two went and sat down seeing as they still had some time before they boarded.

Aomine put all their luggage into a neat pile before he sat down. The assassin glanced at Kasamatsu before looking around. He noticed a sigh for the bathroom around the corner. He patted the teenager's leg, informing him that he needed the toilet. "I'll be right back, Yukio. I'll probably get a coffee, too."

Kasamatsu nodded mutely. The raven haired teen watched Aomine walk away before turning his attention to their bags. Kasamatsu still had the bag his father wanted him to have in his arms. His eyes flicked to the dark red one which Aomine's friend, Kagami, had brought him. Kasamatsu noticed a piece of crinkled paper sticking out of one of the side pockets of the duffel bag, appearing as if were on the verge of falling out.

The teenager grabbed it and was about to stick it in deeper so it would not fall out but he paused when he suddenly remembered what Kagami had said. ' _I wonder if this has the information he wanted Aomine to see? Maybe it has something about my family in it..._ '

Kasamatsu knew he should not read it out because of privacy reasons but he was curious about his family. He needed to know. He needed to know if his younger brother's were safe with their mother. Kasamatsu opened the note and smoothed it out. The handwriting was neat.

He read it. " _I regret to inform you that your job is now over. You are to return home immediately, and-_ " Kasamatsu fell silent. He felt as if his heart were in his stomach and he was suddenly confused. "Over?" He repeated, staring at his feet. "How could that be..."

The young adult looked back down at the letter. His eyes widened at the rest of the news it had. Suddenly, it felt as if his heart stopped beating. His blood ran cold and the sounds of people's voices melted into white noise. Kasamatsu's vision swam with the tears that flooded his eyes, irritating his contacts. The moment Aomine returned with his coffee and touched his shoulder, all Kasamatsu felt was anger.

The steel-blue eyed teen shot up and punched Aomine on the face. The assassin stumbled back, a stunned look on his face. "Yukio-" He called.

"Don't fucking ' _Yukio'_ me, you bastard! You _lied_ to me!" Kasamatsu yelled as he shoved Aomine away from him. The crumbled paper now lay on the ground, forgotten. "You said my family was fine! You said the enemy was onto us which is why we were going back to Japan – but you're only going back so you can get rid of me...!" Hot tears streamed down Kasamatsu's pale cheeks. His vision blurred from his wet eyes and he could feel his fists shaking.

"My mother and brothers are in danger, and- and... _my father..._ " Kasamatsu's shaky voice was just above a whisper. He wiped at his eyes with his balled up fists, angry at Aomine and himself. " _You lied to me,_ you fucking bastard... You lied and gave me false hope, about _everything._ " The shaky teen spun around, pacing back and forth as his mind raced a mile a minute. He did not even notice the few people that stopped to watch him.

Kasamatsu turned back to Aomine, arms hugging his bag tightly. "I'm going to the bathroom," He announced. "If you try to follow me, I'll run..." The raven head said stoically. Without waiting for a reply, the shaken young man stalked towards the bathroom. He tried to calm himself down, wanting to think straight. Kasamatsu wiped at his eyes again as he tried to think rationally.

"I knew I couldn't fucking trust that idiot..." Kasamatsu told himself. He sniffled and rubbed more at his irritated eyes. Now in the bathroom, Kasamatsu stared at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were red and puffy from his onslaught of tears earlier. He looked terrible. Kasamatsu took the contacts out and splashed his face with cold water. It helped somewhat but the teen was still reeling. The raven head stood straight and jumped when he saw that same short and chubby man who had helped them earlier.

" _It's hard to find trust in a man involved in the underground world._ " The middle aged man commented. He broke eye contact with Kasamatsu, lowering his head. "I'm sorry, kid."

Kasamatsu frowned. "What do you-" Before he could finish, a few men dressed in black suits entered the bathroom. They blocked off the only exit, guns in the hands. Kasamatsu spun around and was about to swing at the closest one but another dove at him and held a cloth to his mouth. Kasamatsu inhaled sharply and in a matter of seconds his struggles ceased and soon he was out like a light.

Kasamatsu collapsed onto the ground. Another man walked up to Kasamatsu and picked him up. They group left the bathroom, taking the unconscious teen with them.

♦ ♥ ♦

Aomine exhaled heavily as he ran a hand through his hair. He paced around their belongings and cursed under his breath. The assassin cast a glance in the direction of the bathrooms and shook his head. ' _I shouldn't have let him go... I shouldn't have lied to him._ '

After a few more minutes of waiting, Aomine decided to go get Kasamatsu. He figured the teen would fight him, wanting to be alone, but their plane was going to be boarding soon. Aomine knew Kasamatsu would be upset but Aomine still needed to tell him _everything._

The dark blue haired man grabbed the red duffel bag and headed to the bathroom. He pushed the door open and rounded the corner, calling for the younger man. "Yukio, the plane will be boarding soon... Please, just come out. I'll tell you everything I know and... And I'll tell you my plan."

Silence greeted Aomine. He sighed. "Yukio, please... I know you're upset but you need to listen to me – I have a plan that could help." The blue eyed man shifted on his feet. The silence was almost deafening now. ' _Now I'm beginning to get worried._ ' Aomine thought. He cursed under his breath.

The assassin ducked down, checking to see if he could see anyone in the stalls. At first he got nothing but at the last stall, Aomine saw a pair of legs. He narrowed his eyes, knowing that they did not belong to Kasamatsu. His heart skipped a beat as he realized who they belonged to. The man from earlier.

Aomine went to the last stall and kicked the door open. The lock broke and the door shot back, smacking the short and stocky man. " _You."_ Aomine growled out.

The man jumped, his hands shaking in fear. "I- I'm sorry!" The man stuttered out, raising his arms as if to defend himself from Aomine. Sweat poured from his bald head as Aomine glared at the man, his eyes narrowed into tiny, dangerous slits.

" _Listen to me, you traitorous scumbag._ " Aomine grabbed the man by his collar, hauling him to his feet. " _You fucking tell me where they took the kid or I'll do much worse to you that death itself._ "

The man quivered violently at Aomine's threat. He shook his head swiftly, " _I seriously do- don't know where they were ta- taking him! They pulled guns out a- and before I knew it, they chloroformed him!_ " The bald man sputtered out as Aomine tightened his grip on his collar.

Aomine cursed under his breath. He slammed the man against the stall, the tan colored wall denting from the force. He grabbed the bag and collected the rest of their luggage before rushing out of the airport. "I'm a fucking idiot." Aomine told himself.

"Hold on, Yukio. I'll find you."


	14. Death

Kasamatsu's head throbbed painfully. His lungs burned just a tad every time he breathed in. He gradually woke up, although he wished he were still asleep. Or out cold. The moment he opened his eyes, he regretted it. The teen's vision swam uncontrollably for a few moments until it slowly went back to normal.

The raven head released a shaky breath and decided to focus on the beating of his own heart instead of the pain. He moved his head to the side and held back another groan of pain. He lay on his side, the ground hard underneath him. He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them, letting them adjust in the darkness of wherever he was.

Kasamatsu studied the area as best he could. From what he gathered, the teen thought he was in a room from a fancy hotel, however it was void of any furniture. It reminded him of the days he spent with Aomine.

"Aomine..." Kasamatsu whispered.

The teenager suddenly wished that he was back with the blue haired assassin. Even though his last memories of the man were painful. Kasamatsu thought back to the crumpled note and sighed softly, his heart aching. Kasamatsu squeezed his steel-blue orbs shut as tears pricked his eyes. He made to wipe at his eyes but quickly found that his arms were tied behind his back. Kasamatsu rolled onto his stomach, lightly hitting his head on the floor in frustration.

Kasamatsu blinked his teary eyes and craned his neck as he peered around the room. The teen drew in a shaky breath before he moved into a sitting position. Kasamatsu sniffled and lightly tugged on the bonds which kept his arms bound behind him.

The sound of muffled footsteps coming from above him made him freeze. Kasamatsu raised his head, staring at the ceiling. The light above him trembled from the footsteps above. After a minute, the footsteps were accompanied by muffled voices. The teenager strained to listen but the voices were too quiet for him to hear anything. Kasamatsu wondered if he should call out for help but before he could make a decision, the muffled voices suddenly got louder.

They were angry, yelling back and forth. It went on for a few more seconds then a loud crash made the teen jump. Kasamatsu's head snapped in the direction of the crash which must have been near the balcony or something above him. Silence followed and Kasamatsu did not dare to take a breath.

Soon enough the voices started up again. It went on for about three minutes until they stopped the moment a thump sounded from above Kasamatsu. The teenager breathed out, "What the hell..."

Kasamatsu made his way to the corner of the room as best he could. He sat with his back to the corner, staring into the darkness of the room. Kasamatsu closed his eyes, seeing as they were beginning to play tricks on him. He waited in silence.

What he was waiting for, he was not sure. Kasamatsu so desperately wished he could hate his father for doing this to his family but after learning of what happened, Kasamatsu did not think he would ever be able to. The steel-blue eyed teen sighed and shifted so he was not leaning against the wall anymore. His arms were beginning to ache and his shoulders were getting stiff. Kasamatsu was about to attempt to stand but the sound of footsteps suddenly put him on high alert.

Kasamatsu slumped back into the wall. He grimaced from the pain that shot up his arms but quickly ignored it when he could not hear the footsteps. He tilted his head, trying so hard to listen for the slightest sound – but all he could hear was the sound of his own heart beat.

After a moment, when he heard the door beep from being opened with a key card from the outside, Kasamatsu's blood ran cold. Kasamatsu tensed as he waited for the inevitable.

The door opened and the room was flooded with light from the hallway. A shadow blocked off some of the light and Kasamatsu wished that Aomine was with him again. He swallowed the lump that formed in his throat.

The light switch was flicked on and it was searing. Kasamatsu reeled from his eyes suddenly being blinded. His head ached even more than before and it caused him to whimper pitifully. Kasamatsu ducked his head between his knees, trying to get away from the burning light. The teenager could make out footsteps getting closer to him, as well as the sound of the door closing.

A pair of glossy, black shoes stopped directly in front of him and it made the teen's heart stop. "Hello, Yukio-kun."

Kasamatsu raised his head, squinting up at the stranger. The man stood above him, his body blocking out the light from the ceiling. From what Kasamatsu could make out, the man had dark brown hair and bright green eyes. His skin was olive colored and had an immediately noticeable scar on his left eyebrow. Kasamatsu also noted that the man wore a black suit, reminding him of all the bad people his father was involved with. The man spoke again, "Did you just wake up?" He asked.

The brunette's voice was warm and somewhat deep. He had an Italian accent but his Japanese was not too bad. He was at least understandable. Kasamatsu turned his head away, refusing to say anything to the bad man. The young man could feel the stranger's eyes burning into his very being but he refused to give in.

The man sighed. "Listen, Yukio-kun," He began, crouching in front of Kasamatsu. "I'm only here to keep an eye on you, okay? I won't hurt you."

Kasamatsu did not know how to react or what to say. Eventually, he slowly looked back up to the stranger. He stared into his green eyes, studying them. "Why?" He whispered.

"Because my employer would like to have a word with you, that's all." The man replied.

Kasamatsu scoffed. "You killed my father," He snarled, suddenly angry.

The Italian shook his head. "No," He denied. "I didn't kill him. It was another one of my employer's men." The tall man stared into the teen's eyes and for a brief moment, Kasamatsu almost believed him.

He quickly pushed the feeling away. "I can't believe you." Kasamatsu said defiantly. "I can't even trust anyone. The one person I did trust ended up betraying me..." The steel-blue eyed teen mumbled painfully.

"I see. Well, I can't force you to believe me but I will start by introducing myself." The brunette extended his hand and patted the teen's shoulder. "Believe it or not, I'm not the bad guy here... But my name is Luca."

Kasamatsu glared at the hand on his shoulder. He was tempted to shout or kick at the guy who called himself Luca but he decided to remain silent. Not to mention it would be difficult to pick a fight with his hands bound behind him. Kasamatsu just wanted to focus on ignoring Luca, as well as the pain from his head and aching arms.

Luca removed his hand and stared down at the younger male. He appeared to go into thought, zoning out for a second. "That seems very uncomfortable, Yukio-kun." Luca said after a moment. "If you promise not to attack me or try to escape then I'll gladly release you from those painful bonds."

"Will you?" Kasamatsu asked mockingly. Despite his decision to ignore the man, he could not help but speak. He considered rejecting Luca's deal because all he wanted to do was fight for his freedom and maybe even for his father but at the same time his whole body was hurting. As much as it would pain him mentally to accept the deal from his 'guard', Kasamatsu knew he was in more physical pain.

Eventually, the teenager gave in. "All right... I promise I won't attack you or try to make a run for it."

"Great." Luca gave Kasamatsu a smile. The older man slowly pulled a switchblade from his back pocket. "Easy..." He whispered, wanting to not alarm the teenager with the weapon.

Kasamatsu tensed but turned around so Luca would cut the zip-tie which held his wrists together. Once they were cut, Kasamatsu nearly toppled over. His arms ached as he moved them, staring at the dark red marks around his wrists. It took him a moment to realize that his wrists were also decorated with dried blood. He breathed in deeply, glad to be rid of his binds.

"Why did this have to happen to _my_ family?" He questioned. "Why would my father purposely join something bad when he has a family?"

Luca stared down at the younger man. He turned his gaze away, giving Kasamatsu the space he needed. "Maybe he did it in order to protect his family?" Luca offered.

"There is no point if all that came from it was his own death," Kasamatsu laughed bitterly. "I don't even know how my mother and little brother's are doing. I don't know if they are dead, I mean, for all I know – they could be." The raven head shook his head, staring at the carpeted floor. Kasamatsu knew he should be more optimistic but with everything that has happened, he could not find the will to be.

"Yukio," Luca whispered.

Kasamatsu pushed himself up off the ground, staggering from the sudden blood rush. He regained his balance and gingerly rubbed at his sore wrists. Kasamatsu faced Luca, his steel-blue eyes burning into the man's emerald green orbs. "I don't need your pity."

"I understand. But I-" Luca was silenced by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He pulled his cellular device out and answered it. " _Hello? Yes,_ " The green eyed man spoke in a different language. He walked away from Kasamatsu, continuing his conversation.

Kasamatsu turned away, idly wondering when his imminent death would come. He wondered if he would ever be able to see his family once more before he died. The raven head's morbid thoughts were wiped from his mind the moment Luca nudged him. Kasamatsu spun around, taking a step back. "What?" He demanded with a sneer.

"My employer will see you tomorrow." The Italian man informed. "As for tonight, you will stay in my suite and get cleaned up for your meeting."

Kasamatsu made a face. He watched the taller man walk to the door. As much as he hated this entire situation, Kasamatsu followed Luca because he was tired of putting up a fight and getting no where. "I understand..." The young man mumbled.

Kasamatsu could not help but feel as if he was walking off to his own death.


	15. Light

Kasamatsu stepped out into the hallway. The lighting from the hallway created a yellowish-orange glow, making the teenager squint. He followed closely behind Luca, staring at the paintings that hung from the walls. He bumped into the taller man's back when he stopped, having not been paying attention to the brunette. Luca threw a glance at him over his shoulder before he continued to lead Kasamatsu down the hallway.

The pair entered an elevator and Kasamatsu watched as Luca swiped a card before he pushed the button for the highest floor. Floor 40. In under a minute they reached their destination.

Luca opened the door to his room and ventured inside, holding the door for the teen. Kasamatsu made a beeline for the window while Luca shut the door behind him. The raven haired teen liked the fact that the window reached from floor to ceiling, from one end of the wall to the other.

Kasamatsu pressed his hands against the glass, staring into the outside world. The view almost reminded him of Tokyo, with it's bright glittering lights scattered throughout the entire city. It was beautiful. The teen lowered his gaze from all the flashing lights and peered down. From the fortieth floor, no one would be able to survive the fall, he thought.

Almost hypnotized by the thought, Kasamatsu pressed against the glass just a bit harder as he stared into the dark abyss of the sidewalks below. As if sensing his dark thoughts, Luca cleared his throat, diverting Kasamatsu's attention from the window. The high school student turned on his heel, staring at Luca silently.

"You can take a shower. When you're finished, I will clean and wrap the cuts on your wrists." Luca placed a small medical kit down on one of the dressers. "All right?"

"Okay." Kasamatsu agreed compliantly. The raven head walked into the spacious, marble bathroom and shut the door behind him. He looked around, noting everything about the no-doubt expensive, fancy hotel they were in. Kasamatsu found it funny; thinking that it was much better than the scummy, dirt bag motels Aomine and him stayed in.

Kasamatsu came to realize that despite the horrible motels, it somehow managed to feel like home. Unlike this place which felt cold. The steel-blue eyed teenager figured that it must be the people one is with which makes a home feel like home. Kasamatsu sighed. He stripped his dirty clothes off in preparation for his shower.

When Kasamatsu finished his shower, the teenager shut off the hot water and stepped out. He stared down at the fluffy bathmat under his feet before he walked to the mirror. It was covered in steam so he reached forward and wiped his hand along it. Kasamatsu stared at his reflection. He had bags under his eyes and a small bruise on his forehead. The steel-blue eyed teen poked it, unsure of where it came from.

From what he remembered, Kasamatsu was chloroformed. He was sure he was also knocked unconscious from a hit to the back of his head, which would explain the pain from that location. Kasamatsu grabbed a big white towel and dried himself off. The teen also noticed that there was a pile of clean clothes on the counter, meaning that at some point Luca had come in a placed them there. Kasamatsu was annoyed at the fact that his privacy was invaded but he thought that maybe it would be a good idea to not cause a disturbance with Luca. He did not want to go back to being bound.

Kasamatsu sighed softly and begrudgingly put the new articles of clothing on. Once he was fully dressed, he exited the bathroom. The high school student gave the brunette a small glare which the Italian returned with an apologetic look.

The captured teen took a seat on one of the fancy-looking love seats and folded his arms over his chest. He noticed Luca staring at him, and it made him feel even more annoyed but also on edge. Eventually, Kasamatsu blurt out, "What?"

Luca blinked and focused on the teen properly. "Sorry," He apologized, turning away with the decency to look embarrassed. "Those clothes suit you better than the dirty t-shirt and sweats you previously wore." The man said.

Kasamatsu glanced down at his attire. The man had given him black pants and dark blue button-up dress shirt. He assumed that he needed to at least look presentable with his meeting with Luca's employer. Kasamatsu did not know how to respond so he settled for turning his head away.

"Let me take care of those cuts." Luca offered, motioning for Kasamatsu to take a seat across the table from him. Kasamatsu nodded mutely and sat in front of Luca, presenting his wrists to the older man. Luca pulled the medical kit closer to him and opened it. Kasamatsu stared at it, thinking back to only a few days ago when he had to bandage Aomine's arm up.

He briefly wondered if the assassin got on the plane back to Japan, leaving him to fend for himself. Kasamatsu was stunned from his thoughts when Luca dabbed rubbing alcohol on his wrists, burning him. The teen watched him clean the small cuts before putting cream on it before he wrapped his wrists in bandages.

When he was done, Kasamatsu gazed out the large window, staring into the night sky which was lit up from the bright city lights below. A thought occurred to him. He asked Luca, "Where are we right now?"

Kasamatsu was sure they were still in America but he did not know where. Aomine never exactly told him what state they were in either but he suspected they could have been in California. If that was the case then he was sure they were still there. Kasamatsu eyed Luca who seemed to be contemplating over whether or not to tell him their location.

The younger man could see Luca slowly giving in. The older of the two sighed. "We're in LA." Luca told him as he ran a hand through his chocolate brown hair.

"Los Angeles..." Kasamatsu whispered.

The teenager went back to staring out the window. He was so far from home, far from all the danger his father caused his family. Despite being so far away, trouble still managed to find him. And they got him.

Kasamatsu got up and returned back to his spot on the love seat. He leaned into the soft, welcoming cushions and only now realized how heavy his eyelids were. He was tired; exhausted from everything that happened, both physically and mentally. The raven head was sleepy, especially after that hot shower. Kasamatsu took comfort in the love seat and closed his eyes, drifting into a deep sleep.

♦ ♥ ♦

Kasamatsu woke up to Luca shaking him gently. The raven haired teenager sat up straight, tiredly rubbing at his heavy eyes. "What time is it?" He asked quietly.

"9:00 AM," Luca replied. Kasamatsu peered at the window, seeing all the tall skyscrapers around their hotel. The window reflected the morning sunlight, giving off a blinding glare. The brunette cleared his throat, drawing Kasamatsu's attention back to him. "My employer should be here in an hour."

Kasamatsu made a face. "Why do you keep saying employer?" He questioned.

Luca faltered. He scratched his head, "Well, the man who hired me isn't exactly my _real_ boss... I'm a-"

"A hitman..." Kasamatsu finished. The teen shifted awkwardly when he realized that he was sort of similar to Aomine. However Aomine was an assassin, who killed or took on a job for profit for whatever organization he was in. While Luca on the other hand belonged to the underground world. Part of the people who could have killed his father, Kasamatsu knew.

The steel-blue eyed teenager got up from the love seat. His neck and back ached from having slept awkwardly. He rolled his shoulders and rubbed at his neck but that did nothing to ease the ache. A knock at the door made him freeze but when Luca opened it to reveal a middle aged woman with a tray, Kasamatsu relaxed.

The hitman greeted the woman with a warm smile, murmuring a _thank you_ as he accepted the tray from her. The woman giggled as if Luca had just said the most humorous thing to her – and it made Kasamatsu roll his eyes. He vaguely wondered if automatically seducing woman was apart of being a hitman. Kasamatsu supposed that it could prove useful, in certain circumstances.

The older man closed the door with a soft click. Luca turned to Kasamatsu, holding up the tray. "Are you hungry, Yukio-kun?"

Kasamatsu was about to comment on being called by his first name but then another thought bubbled to the surface of his mind. "Why would you get room service for someone you're holding captive?" The teen asked, finding Luca very weird.

"Just because you're my prisoner for the time being doesn't mean I'm going to treat you like shit." Luca scoffed. He set the tray of food on the table and sat on the chair. "Besides," He added, "I'm not getting paid to rough you up and starve you."

Kasamatsu glared at Luca. Although the food did smell really good. The raven head's stomach grumbled and he flushed. Kasamatsu wrapped both arms around his stomach, as if that would silence it. The captive teenager hated the look which Luca gave him. He did not want to accept the food from the man but at the same time Kasamatsu had not eaten in over a day. And now that there was food right in front of him, he was beginning to crumble.

Luca pushed a plate over to Kasamatsu. It was a typical western breakfast, consisting of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and hash-browns. The scent of the food made Kasamatsu's stomach rumble almost painfully.

After a few moments of Kasamatsu's inner turmoil, the teen eventually gave in to his needs. He grabbed the plate but not without giving the older man a suspicious look first. Luca raised his eyebrow before it dawned on him. "You think I could be poisoning you..." Luca mumbled in wonder.

" _Well,_ " Kasamatsu shrugged. "I wouldn't put it past anyone who is currently working with the people who killed my father." The teen retorted, ignoring the painful pang he felt in his heart.

Luca only nodded. "I can understand that," He picked up one of the forks. "But if it'll make you feel better, I'll take a bite."

Kasamatsu narrowed his eyes. "How do I know that one bite isn't the only part that you didn't poison?"

Luca started laughing. "Jesus, kid," He grinned, warm and kind. It made Kasamatsu frown. With the job Luca had, Kasamatsu half-expected for the man to have some sort of evil, diabolical laugh – the kind all villains had in cartoons. It annoyed the teen that he did not.

"Look," Luca continued once he finished laughing at Kasamatsu's untrustworthy nature. "If it bothers you that much then why don't I let you feed me any part you want?" The hitman suggested as he held the fork out for Kasamatsu to take. "The longer you take to decide, the colder your breakfast gets."

Kasamatsu snorted. "You're unbelievable." He commented.

" _I'm_ unbelievable?" Luca questioned.

Kasamatsu just pushed Luca's hand away. "If you're willing to degrade yourself by being fed like a little _baby_ then I guess I could trust that you didn't poison me."

" _Thanks,_ " Luca said sarcastically. He stood up to let Kasamatsu eat in peace. He turned back to the raven haired boy, "You know, you have quite the way with words." Luca told him.

Kasamatsu smirked. "Thanks."

♦ ♥ ♦

When Kasamatsu finished eating, Luca had him cleaned up and ready to meet his employer. The hitman even gave Kasamatsu a black tie to complete his look. Kasamatsu felt as if he were dressed to meet some very important business man. Although he supposed the man whom he was meeting with was 'important' in a way, considering that he was the boss of some Mafia family.

Kasamatsu smoothed out the wrinkles of his shirt but faltered. He questioned why he was bothering to make himself look presentable. Especially in the presence of a man who could have had a hand in his father's death.

' _I should be mad, angry... Raging, even._ ' Kasamatsu cursed at himself. His fingers curled in the fabric of his pants.

The young man decided that he hated himself. He hated the fact that he had been acting so compliantly for the hitman – when he should have been fighting. _Aomine would want him to fight, wouldn't he?_

Silently fuming, Kasamatsu glanced at Luca. "If I attacked your employer, would you kill me?" He asked.

Luca stared at Kasamatsu with an unreadable expression. He turned his head away, averting his gaze. "I don't see any reason to _kill_ you, but..."

"But?" Kasamatsu pressed.

Luca ducked his head, avoiding Kasamatsu's fiery steel-blue eyed stare. "But if he ordered me to..."

"Hey, if the price is right, huh?" Kasamatsu scoffed. He ran a hand through his raven black hair. Luca did not respond, making the high school student smile apathetically. "Good to know..."


	16. Dream

Kasamatsu stared at the door in front of him.

His blood was ice and he was sure his heart stopped beating. He thought it must be a dream; a terrible, never-ending dream where everything gradually became worse as time passed. Kasamatsu thought he should just call it a living nightmare.

Luca shot him a look but Kasamatsu ignored it. The brunette approached a door and stood in front of it. The two could hear footsteps on the other side and it made Kasamatsu tense up. The raven head watched as Luca put his hand against the door, pushing it open when the door was unlocked from the inside. It opened to reveal a much older man who was standing in between two younger men, who Kasamatsu guessed were guards, or maybe they were his henchmen. The teen had no idea, nor did he care. He figured he was going to share the same fate as his father, either way.

The guards stepped out of the way so Luca and Kasamatsu could enter. The older man, the man Kasamatsu was meeting with, had salt and pepper hair slicked back. His skin was tan and marred with scars from various years in the underground world. His pale blue colored eyes were tired-looking but still held a look of danger in them. He had a frown on his face but when he noticed the smaller teen, he smiled.

Kasamatsu was positive the smile was meant to be friendly but it was everything but. It made a chill run down his spine and the blood in his veins boil. Anger flourished from the teenager's previous feelings of fear and anxiety and suddenly, _he had to know._

The steel-blue eyed male asked, his voice trembling, "Did you have my father killed?"

A heavy silence filled the room. The atmosphere was heavy and thick, making it almost impossible for Kasamatsu to breath properly. The young man stared at the older man, his gaze never wavering as his fingers curled into tight fists. The mafia boss opened his mouth, giving his reply, "Yes, it was."

Kasamatsu's face burned as his knuckles turned white. Fury filled his veins and it made his heart pound in his chest. His mouth was dry which made it difficult to say anything, but he managed to ground out, "Why?"

The man only smiled. "The details are of no importance to you, Yukio-kun." His retort made Kasamatsu even angrier. "The only thing you need to worry about now is handing over that USB your father gave to you."

Kasamatsu faltered.

Inwardly, the teenager cursed. He knew he had his bag which had said drive in it with him in the bathroom but he did not know what happened to it. He realized that maybe the bastard already had it and could just be messing with him before he killed him, but something told Kasamatsu that he did not have it yet. His eyes flicked to Luca, wondering if he could have his bag.

Kasamatsu decided to play it cool. "I don't have it with me." He told the old man.

The man only chuckled, his two guards smirking. "I'm not in the mood for your games, kid. I know you have it on you."

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes. "Maybe I do, maybe I don't. Have you thought that it could still be with that guy I was with?" He pointed out, as much as it pained him to shift the attention to Aomine.

"I think not." The man replied. He wore a smirk on his sun-tanned face, continuing on. "You see, child, I believe it is in your best interest to hand over that drive."

"And why is that?" Kasamatsu demanded.

The older man ran a hand through his greying hair. "You see, I currently hold something very dear to you. Something you would definitely not want to lose."

The teen's heart fluttered but did not let his fear show through. "And what is that?" He asked, arms folded over his chest. Kasamatsu already lost his father, he did not know what else he could lose. _Unless..._

Kasamatsu bit his lip, refusing to show any other emotion other than anger. His blood was cold just from the thought and he could feel his fists shaking. The man's smirk turned into a grin. "I think you know what, Yukio-kun," The mafia boss shot back, watching the teen's eyes burn with fury.

Kasamatsu faltered.

"Don't you fucking touch them!" The steel-blue eyed man yelled, his arms falling to his sides. "Just leave my family alone, you bastard!" Kasamatsu took a step forward but he was halted by a hand gripping his arm. He turned to see Luca holding him back, eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. Kasamatsu scowled but took a step back.

"So," The boss interjected. "Now that you know what is at stake – I'll take the USB now." He held his hand out, as if waiting for Kasamatsu to obediently drop the device in his outstretched hand.

Kasamatsu lowered his head. ' _Father wouldn't purposely put us all in danger, would he? At least, not without a good reason. Whatever is on that USB must be really important to this guy..._ ' The noirette made up his mind. "I won't give it to you."

The mafioso narrowed his eyes at Kasamatsu but the teen did not waver. The man turned his glare onto Luca, pale blue eyes burning into the brunette. "Get it." He ordered.

The two men on either side of the boss grabbed Kasamatsu's arms, holding him back. Luca quickly disappeared into a different room and when he came back, he was holding Kasamatsu's treasured bag. The emerald eyed man ignored the look on Kasamatsu's face as he passed him, stopping in front of the mafioso. "Here," Luca said once he fished out the USB drive.

" _No!_ " Kasamatsu yelled out as he wrenched himself from the two men. He was at Luca's side in a second, yelling, "You can't be fucking _serious_ – whatever is on that USB must be- _mmph!_ "

Luca grabbed the teenager and held him tight, slapping a hand over his mouth. The teen struggled against him but Luca managed to hold him down, "If that is going to be all, sir, then I'll take care of this one for you." The emerald eyed hitman offered with a dark smirk on his face. He could feel a burning glare directed at him from the struggling teenager in his arms.

The mafioso waved his hand and Luca had to drag Kasamatsu out the door with him.

The hitman made it as far as the end of the hallway before Kasamatsu mustered up the strength to break out of Luca's hold. The teenager drove his elbow into Luca's side, stumbling away. Luca ground his teeth together from the pain, "Yukio," He said through clenched teeth. "You need to listen-"

Kasamatsu did not give Luca the chance to finish as he balled his hand into a tight fist and swung at Luca's face. He managed to get Luca's jaw, causing the hitman to stumble back. " _Shut up!_ " Kasamatsu screamed at him, his voice breaking.

The raven head was breathing hard. It was as if he just ran a marathon. His shoulder's heaved with every gasp of air he drew in. Kasamatsu's eyes watered, panic flooding through his veins. He shook his head hastily as he choked out words. "Why di- did you d- do that!?" Kasamatsu stuttered out as he struggled to talk and catch his breath at the same time.

Luca watched as Kasamatsu reached up to rub at his wet eyes. "Yukio, please – you have to listen to me, I-"

"No-" Kasamatsu cut him off, wheezing as he sucked in short breaths of air. "J- Just lea- leave me alone, I-..."

" _Yukio!_ " Luca snapped, his expression of worry turning quickly into anger. His sudden outburst made the teen jump. The brunette grabbed Kasamatsu by his shoulders and steered him to the elevator. He swiped his key-card and hailed the elevator. While it rose to their floor, Luca used the time to turn back to the panicking teenager. "You need to calm down, Yukio. I think you're having a panic attack." Luca spoke calmly, hoping it would help the younger man.

The elevator arrived with a soft ding so the older man pulled the teen inside. He swiped the card once more and selected 'B' for the basement floor where the garage was located. Luca squeezed Kasamatsu's shoulders, his thoughts racing. "Just calm down; you need to calm yourself and take slow, deep breaths." Luca told him.

Despite giving Kasamatsu instructions, Luca realized that he had no idea how to handle this situation. He has never had a panic attack nor been around anyone else that has. He only hoped that the things he told Kasamatsu were all right.

The younger man did not seem to listen to a word he had said because he was sinking to his knees, hyperventilating. Luca swore under his breath, not sure of how he could help the younger man. He wracked his brain for something to say or do, but came up empty.

His mind raced as the elevator passed floor after floor. After a few more seconds, Luca finally thought of something. Something he had seen on television before. Although he was not sure if it really worked or not. For Kasamatsu's sake, though, Luca would try.

The brunette gave Kasamatsu's shoulders a small shake, whispering his name. "Yukio..." He called.

The hyperventilating teenager looked up with wet and red puffy eyes. Kasamatsu's lips parted in confusion and Luca used that moment to make his advance. The taller man leaned down and pressed his chapped lips against Kasamatsu's.

Kasamatsu's eyes widened as his mind instantly shut down. The chaos and whirlwind of numbing thoughts and worries all came to a standstill and eventually faded away due to the tingling sensation on his lips. He felt as if he were trapped in the eye of the storm or perhaps he was being poisoned, or maybe even having the life sucked out of him by the man before him.

Luca slowly pulled away, leaving Kasamatsu's lips feeling cold and naked suddenly. The brunette watched the teen slowly release a shaky breath before he collapsed onto Luca's chest. Luca blinked his emerald green orbs, surprised. "Huh..." He huffed out.

The hitman stared down at the younger man, who was now unconscious from what he assumed was all the stress. The elevator tinged and Luca noticed that they reached their floor. He picked the teen up as the doors opened and walked into the underground parking lot of the hotel. Luca spotted his car at the ready and started walking towards it, all while thinking, ' _I've never kissed anyone and had them fall unconscious before._..'


	17. Snow

_Kasamatsu stared up at the bright blue sky as he watched as small, fluffy-looking white specks gently rained down. The steel-blue eyed teenager watched as the small snowflakes landed on the ground, joining the two-feet of snow that covered everything. Kasamatsu turned around when he heard the all-familiar laughter of his younger brother, Yuuta._

_The three year old was laughing as he ran from Kazuki, who was chasing him with an armful of snowballs. "Yuki-nii, help meee!" Yuuta cried out, emphasizing the last word. His smile stretched practically from ear to ear as he ran._

_Kasamatsu chuckled as his little brother ran around him in circles, dodging the snowballs thrown at him. "Just be careful, Yuuta."_

_Yuuta paused, beaming up at his oldest brother. "I'm always careful!" Yuuta grinned cheekily, shortly before he got pelted in the face by a snowball. "Argh!"_

_Kasamatsu cringed as he watched Yuuta stumble backwards from the force, falling onto his butt. The elder brother asked quietly, "... Are you okay, Yuuta?"_

_Yuuta sprang up with a grin on his face. Kasamatsu smiled back, realized he worried for nothing. Still, he turned from Yuuta and gave Kazuki a pointed glare. "Kazu..." He warned._

_Kazuki grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Yuuta," The second oldest brother apologized. The thirteen year old ruffled Yuuta's dark hair, missing how Kasamatsu disappeared from his sight. It was not until a moment later when Kazuki felt a presence behind him. He spun around, only to get hit by a snowball._

_Kasamatsu laughed as Kazuki over-reacted, falling to his knees with his hand over his chest. Their father stepped away from their pregnant mother and joined the boys in their snowball fight._

_The steel-blue eyed teenager laughed as he ran and hid behind a tree. He was beginning to think that their vacation was not as bad as he originally thought it to be. Kasamatsu waited behind the tree, catching his breath. He sniffled from the winter chill._

_The laughter from his family was muted suddenly, as if he were listening to it through a thick, glass window. The sky which was bright and beautiful was no dark and filled with angry-looking clouds. An unsettling feeling filled the pit of Kasamatsu's stomach, leaving him feeling sick. Just as the teen was about to call out to his parents – a loud crack made him freeze._

_Kasamatsu remained still for a few fleeting seconds before he ventured out from his hiding spot. What he saw confused him. His mother was lying in the snow, a hand over her baby bump. Her eyes were closer, looking so peaceful as snowflakes cascaded around her._

_On either side of her was Yuuta and Kazuki, both as still as their mother. Kasamatsu slowly approached his mother and brothers, the snow crunching under his feet. The raven head came to a halt when he noticed red blooming in the snow, coming from their bodies._

_Kasamatsu drew in a shaky breath as he took a step back. He quickly realized that his father was no where to be seen, so the teenager spun around, searching for him. "Dad!" He called out, his voice frantic. The raven head backed into something, causing him to spin on his heel. The fear he felt in that split second melted away at the sight of his father. He breathed a sigh of relief. "Dad... Mom and the others-"_

" _I'm sorry, Yukio," His father shook his head slowly, a solemn look on his face. "I'm so sorry." He repeated, voice wavering with emotion._

_Kasamatsu grew confused. "What for?" He asked._

_The young teenager watched his father raise his arm, pointing a gun at him. Kasamatsu stared at the weapon before turning his stare to his mother and brothers who were all suddenly riddled with bullet holes. Their once peaceful expressions were now frozen looks of pain and agony, betrayal, sadness, and horror._

_Kasamatsu faced his father and took a shaky step back. "Dad," He began, voice hitching._

" _I'm so sorry, Yukio." His father stressed, "This is all my fault." The man told his son, tears turning into glittering snowflakes, tinted red with blood. "Goodbye, son..."_

" _Dad, NO-!"_

A loud boom had Kasamatsu jolting up right.

His vision was spinning and his heart was pounding. Sweat trickled down the side of his cheek. The teenager was bewildered, eyes frantically searching the area around him. He calmed somewhat when he saw the familiar face of Luca. It took him a few moments to calm down fully and was able to speak. "Hey," Kasamatsu croaked out.

Luca, who appeared as a deer in the headlights, also relaxed as he took his jacket off. "I'm sorry." He apologized, feeling bad for startling the younger man. Luca tossed his jacket on one of the chairs. The Italian sat on the bed Kasamatsu was on, studying the teenager. "You were having a bad dream..." He stated as he watched the beads of sweat trail down Kasamatsu's head.

The raven haired male scoffed. He wiped his face with the back of his hand before pulling his knees close to his chest. "It was a dream..." Kasamatsu mumbled, staring at the wall ahead of him. "A memory of a vacation my family went on before my mother gave birth to my youngest brother, Naoki." Kasamatsu explained, a faint smile appearing on his face from the vivid memory.

His smile dissolved and it was replaced with a frown. "It was a wonderful memory, up until the point where it took a drastic turn and went dark... My mother and brothers were suddenly dead. I didn't understand and started looking around for my father for an explanation but when he suddenly appeared, he was holding a gun. He told me over and over again that he was 'sorry'."

Kasamatsu tiredly rubbed at his eyes. He turned to Luca, staring into the man's emerald irises. "Just before he pulled the trigger, I woke up..."

Luca nodded slowly. "Then I guess I shouldn't be sorry for accidentally slamming the door?" He offered the teenager a smile.

Kasamatsu snorted. "You could have woke me up sooner." He said softly. The teen shifted his gaze around the room, everything unfamiliar except for the only other person there. Kasamatsu sat in silence as the past events caught up to him. He remembered the mafioso's bargain – the USB for his family, as well as the sudden kiss...

The noirette flushed, telling himself that the heat on his cheeks was from anger and nothing else. He wrapped his arms around his knees, hugging them close. He told Luca, "You're an idiot."

The hitman remained silent. Luca stared at the red-faced teen before he finally clued in on why Kasamatsu was suddenly acting different. "Oh." He said stupidly. Luca rubbed his head, abashed. He was unsure of how to explain himself.

"Well, you see Yukio, you were- Well, you... Uhm..." Luca trailed off, feeling awkward. "You were having a panic attack and were hyperventilating and I wasn't sure how to help you, so I remembered this thing I saw on T.V once, and-"

"Okay, I get it." Kasamatsu interrupted, wanting to avoid hearing the steps that took place to what happened between the two. "You're still an idiot." The raven head said.

Luca furrowed his eyebrows. "Why Was that your first kiss or something? I don't-"

" _No!_ " Kasamatsu blurted out as he glared at the brunette. "You gave that man the USB. My father gave that to me to keep safe! Whatever was on it much be really important, you know – and you just handed it over to that crazy man." Kasamatsu stopped his rant, taking in a deep breath to try and calm himself down once more.

Luca faced Kasamatsu properly. The brunette grabbed Kasamatsu's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Yukio, before he freak out, you need to listen to me." The man's voice was serious, his green eyes piercing into Kasamatsu's own steel-blue orbs. "I was trying to tell you this yesterday but you were to far gone... The USB I gave to the man was a _fake._ "

Kasamatsu blinked. He stared into the older man's eyes, searching them for any hints of a lie. "A fake?" He repeated, suddenly unsure of everything.

Luca nodded. "Yes," He stressed, a slight grin appearing on his face. "When you were sleeping the other night, I switched the USB sticks. I have the one from your father." The brunette pulled said object out from his pocket, placing it in Kasamatsu's hand.

The younger man stared at the USB drive in his palm. He furrowed his eyebrows, confused. "Why?" He asked quietly. "Why didn't you give your boss the real one...?"

Luca sighed heavily. "Okay, first of all, that cold hearted bastard is _not_ my boss. He was just a guy who I was being... ' _loaned_ ' to, you could say." The hitman corrected Kasamatsu. "Second, I was also on your father's side. Meaning I'm acting more like a double-agent, if anything." The Italian smirked.

Kasamatsu stared at the older man in disbelief. "Anything else you want to share?" He asked, slowly digesting all of this new information. Luca shook his head and Kasamatsu buried his head in his hands. The teen fell back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling, another thought popping up in his mind.

"What about my family?" He asked with the same sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. "I already lost my dad, I don't want to lose my mom and brothers." He whispered fearfully, just the thought making him nauseous.

"They will be fine for now. That mafioso already has the USB." Luca reassured Kasamatsu.

"You mean the _fake_ USB." Kasamatsu retorted. He sat back up, staring at Luca. "What about when he finds out it's a fake and that you betrayed him? Won't he do something to..." The raven head did not finish his sentence, not wanting to think of the possibilities.

"Don't worry about that, Yukio." Luca chimed as he patted the younger male's head. "I've already thought about that. The USB he has now is double-encrypted, which means that he is going to have a hard time getting into it."

Kasamatsu accepted the information. "This is all so stupid." He commented. "Shit like this only happens in movies and books."

Luca did not say anything. He was not sure of what to say, being completely honest. In the end, Luca settled for telling Kasamatsu his true thoughts. "I'm sorry this happened to you."

The brunette got up from the bed and walked to the window. He stared at the big city building ahead of them. He surveyed the area and spared a glance at Kasamatsu. "Yukio," He called quietly, unsure. "Do you... want to save your family?"

Kasamatsu clenched his fists, "I would do _anything_ to make sure they are safe." The steel-blue eyed teenager urged. He was on his feet in a second and standing in front of Luca in a moment. "You know where they are... Don't you?"

"Yes..." Luca admitted, tearing his gaze away from the teenager. "But it could be very dangerous for you, and-"

"Don't do that," Kasamatsu spat, annoyed. "Don't ask me if I want to save my family then tell me its better if I don't do anything... That bastard has my mother and brothers and I want to get them back." The young man said, determination shining in his steel-blue eyes.

"Besides," Kasamatsu added. "I've been in danger this entire time. I mean, I've already been shot at..." The raven head thought back to when he was with Aomine, when they were in a car chase.

"What?" Luca asked incredulously. "Who shot at you?" He asked accusingly.

"I'm guessing it was some goon from that bastard's family?" Kasamatsu shrugged it off, the event in the past. "Either way, I'm doing this. I'm going to save my family."


	18. Device

"Tell me where they took him!" Aomine growled out as he tightened his grip on the smaller man's shirt. In his other hand, the assassin was holding a marred picture of the teenager he had been tasked to protect, Kasamatsu Yukio.

The twenty-four year old had been searching tirelessly for the high school student but had no luck in finding him. That is, until a few hours ago when he finally dug up a lead. That lead led Aomine to Los Angeles – to his current predicament.

The quivering man swallowed hard as sweat trickled down his head. " _I- I don't know what y- you're talking about, man!_ " He squabbled as he attempted to get out of Aomine's grasp.

Aomine gave the American a shake, stopping only a moment for the whimpering man to collect himself. " _Tell me,"_ Aomine hissed. He continued speaking, his grip tightening on the man's shirt. " _There was a teenage boy here just the other night. He was unconscious and would have been with some guys in suits._ "

As Aomine explained darkly, he held up the photo of Kasamatsu. His anger swelling, Aomine continued, " _I know you saw them. I know that you were working at the time, Mr. Hotel Manager._ "

The pathetic man stared up at Aomine with wide eyes. " _Ho- How do you even know that, man!?_ " The hotel manager babbled out, flinching when Aomine slammed him against the wall once more.

Aomine gave the shorter man a crooked smirk. A chill ran down the man's spine, spreading through his veins, turning them to ice. What Aomine said next made him quiver. "I've been watching."

The man's heart thudded in his chest, the sweat burning his eyes as it mixed with the tears that formed. His shoulders and back ached from being bashed into the brick wall of the alleyway they occupied. He swallowed thickly. " _M- Maybe you're right - I did see someone like that... But I don't have a clue as to where they were going._ " He shook his head hastily as he explained to Aomine.

" _The kid... The one in the picture was with them and he was with a with a particular guy I've seen a couple times before._ " As he explained, Aomine narrowed his eyes.

" _Tell me the name,"_ The assassin demanded. The blue haired man wrapped the guy's tie around his hand, pushing him against the bricks behind him.

The manager coughed and struggled to suck in air as his throat was squeezed. He could feel Aomine's knuckles digging into his neck painfully, bruising him. " _Hi- His name-"_ The man choked out, fingers gripping at Aomine's arm, trying to balance himself on the tips of his toes. " _His name is Luca."_

Aomine dropped the guy. He flexed his sore fingers, ignoring the sound of the man coughing loudly. He rubbed his knuckles, glancing up at the moon high in the sky. "Luca..." He mumbled, deep in thought. He wondered where he heard that name before...

Once the man regained his breath, he craned his neck to look up to Aomine. " _Luca... Valentino_ ," He wheezed as he rubbed at his bruised throat. " _I- I'm sure he's a hitman_."

Aomine let the information sink in. He mulled it over before glancing at the hotel manager. " _Tell me which way they drove off in."_

♦ ♥ ♦

Kasamatsu came crashing to the ground, grunting in pain. It was early morning, the light shining in through the windows. It was warm on his skin but the pleasant feeling did not last for he was in pain from hitting the ground. The teenager threw a glare at Luca as he straightened himself out. Kasamatsu wiped a bead of sweat from his head and opened his mouth, "You know, when you said "come at me", I didn't expect to be thrown halfway across the room..." The noirette admitted, hands on his hips.

"Sorry," Luca apologized. "I'll try to hold back a little." The green eyed man smirked at the teen as he motioned for Kasamatsu to charge him again.

Kasamatsu glared at the Italian. He squeezed his fingers into tight fists and ran to Luca once again. And much like the first time, the hitman blocked him with ease and sent him flying to the side. The teenager rolled into the wall, his side blooming with pain. Kasamatsu groaned.

Once he was back on two feet, Kasamatsu asked Luca, "Is all this really necessary?" He wanted to know.

The brunette watched the teen wipe the sweat from his head. He nodded, "Of course it is." Luca scoffed, as if it were the most dumb question of all time.

"But I thought you would be teaching me how to use a gun or something." The raven head mumbled.

"While that is important," Luca began. "It is also important for you to know how to fight using your body. You can end up in close-combat situation and get into some serious danger, Yukio..." The hitman shared his concerns.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes but understood what Luca was saying. "Fine, fine..."

"Although you seem to have fight in you. So I guess I shouldn't be too worried." Luca offered, smiling at the teenager.

The steel-blue eyed teen scoffed. "Of course I do. Especially if it involves my family..." Kasamatsu said with his arms crossed.

After a small break, Kasamatsu was standing by the wall. He rolled his shoulders to ease the strain and vaguely wondered if he should have stretched before they began. Kasamatsu looked at Luca, noticing that the man was staring off into space with a hand to his chin. Kasamatsu cleared his throat, pulling Luca from his thoughts. "What is it?"

Luca blinked, suddenly back in reality. "It's nothing," He murmured, lowering his hand. "I was just thinking you had a strong punch."

"Oh," Kasamatsu raised a brow. "I- I'm not sorry for that..." He huffed out.

Luca just nodded his head. "Don't be," He told the younger man. "I know I lied to you and I'm sorry for that. _Just_... Don't forget the feeling of needing to fight, to protect your family. You're going to need it."

Kasamatsu smirked. "You know you're speaking to the captain of a basketball team, right?" He scoffed.

Luca arched his brow. "Captain, huh?" He mused. "Then I shouldn't be worried."

"Okay, now I feel like you're mocking me." Kasamatsu glared. The young man cracked his knuckles as he thought about what Luca just said about not forgetting the feelings of desperation and determination. The teen ventured away from the wall and got into the stance which Luca showed him, saying, "I'm ready."

Luca copied his movements, "Very well."

♦ ♥ ♦

Aomine lay back in the cushy swivel chair as he stared at the plethora of screens in front of him. His royal blue eyes carefully scanned each and every screen, searching for any hint of the man he was looking for.

After a few minutes, he moved back and rubbed at his sore eyes. The assassin grabbed the coffee-flavored energy drink on the desk and downed the last of it. He scrubbed his face, fighting his tiredness.

The tanned man sighed deeply as he leaned back into the chair. He propped his feet on the desk and scanned the footage he stolen during the night. At first, Aomine was searching for a group of men but he realized that maybe they would not travel in a group, especially with an unconscious kid. So he narrowed down his search to just Kasamatsu.

He found nothing and after a couple more hours, Aomine decided that it could not hurt to close his eyes for at least five minutes. After all, what was the harm in that?

♦ ♥ ♦

The loud ringtone of his cell phone startled him awake.

Aomine shot up from the comfy chair and wildly looked around the room. He grabbed his phone and realized that it was well past midnight. The room was dark, only lit up by the multitude of recordings from the other day.

The assassin flipped his phone open and put it to his ear. "Hello?" His voice was quiet, still laced with sleep.

" _Aominecchi!"_

The boisterous voice on the other end of the line had Aomine wincing. "Shut the hell up, Kise." Aomine grumbled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "What do you want?"

" _Listen to me, Aominecchi! I think we found that guy you were looking for? Luca Valentino, right?!"_ The blond haired assassin's voice was ecstatic, it made Aomine's brain falter for a mere second.

"Wha- er, _yeah_ ," Aomine stuttered out, suddenly more awake and on his feet. He ran a hand through his hair, pulling it slightly from the sudden burst of energy he felt. "How did you find him? I mean, where is he? I- Is he with Yukio?" The questions flew out from his mouth, speaking to fast for Kise to keep up.

On the other end of the call, the golden eyed man laughed. " _Calm down, Aominecchi! Kurokocchi isn't a master hacker for nothing!"_

Aomine rolled his eyes. "So it wasn't you that found him?"

" _Eh? Erm..."_ The blond faltered. He suddenly laughed sheepishly and Aomine could imagine him rubbed his head where he was. " _I mean, not entirely... But I helped a little!"_ He huffed out.

In the background, Aomine could hear Kuroko mumbling, " _Kise-kun, if you count sleeping and texting girls as 'helping', then yes – you helped a bunch._ " Aomine rolled his eyes at his friends' antics.

"Just give me the details, you idiot." Aomine demanded.

Kise whined over the phone, " _Ehh! I don't want to be called an idiot by the likes of you, Aominecchi! I- ahh! Kurokocchi-!_ " Aomine pulled the phone away from his ear, glaring at it as Kise whined loudly. It grated on his nerves but he told himself to stay calm. He put it back and was about to confront Kise but instead he heard Kuroko's voice. "Tetsu?" He questioned.

" _Yes_ ," Kuroko replied.

Aomine sighed in relief. "Tell me what you found out about this guy."

" _As you already know, Luca Valentino is a hitman._ " Kuroko confirmed. " _He was born and raised in Italy and recently started working with one of the mafia families there. They went to Japan to deal with a traitor who was apart of the allies there._ "

Aomine hummed, deep in thought. "You must be talking about-"

" _Yes,_ " The light blue haired man confirmed. " _The man who hired you, Kasamatsu Takeru._ " After a moment, Kuroko added, " _You know, Akashi-kun is really annoyed that you went against his orders._ "

Aomine shook his head. "Yeah, I know. You don't need to remind, Tetsu." The assassin sighed softly. "Going back to the guy who has _my charge_..." Aomine pressed, obviously not caring about how in trouble he was with Akashi. He figured that he will just face the music when all this is over and done with.

" _I'll email you the location, Aomine-kun. I need to go now._ "

"Wait, Tetsu-!" The phone clicked, ending their call. Aomine growled. He was positive that Kuroko was going against Akashi, as well, by helping him with his case. Aomine would be sure to properly thank Kuroko, as well as Kise, properly when he returned.

The assassin pulled out his laptop and signed into his email. Aomine waited a couple minutes for the email. When it arrived, the dark skinned male clicked on it and read over the information Kuroko sent him. Aomine's lips pulled into a grin, "I can't believe it..." He whispered.

' _I'm so close to getting you back, Yukio._ '

♦ ♥ ♦

Kasamatsu pulled the damp towel off his head, droplets of water falling from the strands of his hair. He ignored the feeling of the water getting his clean t-shirt wet in favour of staring at the device in front of him. His steel-blue gaze turned to Luca, staring him down. "Is this a bomb?"

"You better believe it." Luca smirked. "It may look small and non-threatening but it packs a pretty big blast."

Kasamatsu nodded slowly. "I'm sure it'll be quite the distraction." He surmised, unable to help the giddy feeling of finally being able to do something about helping his mother and brothers. He rubbed his arm idly, eyes still glued to the small bomb.

Kasamatsu's body was sore from all the training he was doing with Luca. The hot shower he just took at least helped a bit but now that he was cooling down, the aches were more prominent. The high school student drew in a deep breath and released it slowly. His eyes flicked to meet Luca's emerald orbs. "So what's going on tomorrow?" The raven head asked, curious.

Luca stared at Kasamatsu. The hitman turned his back to the teenager, hiding his mischievous expression. "How about I show you how to use a gun?" He wondered aloud.

Kasamatsu raised his eyebrows in surprise. He was just about to ask Luca if he were serious or not but before he could even get the first word out, the hitman added, " _If,"_

"If?" The noirette repeated, shoulders drooping in dismay.

_There was always an if._

" _If_ you can beat me in a one on one. A close-combat battle." The brunette faced Kasamatsu, barring his teeth.

Kasamatsu looked away from Luca's gaze, scoffing. "Fine." He agreed, determination flaring.


	19. Explode

Kasamatsu woke up to the sound of explosions and chaos.

He jolted upright and glanced around the room. The sounds were muddled at first but became clear when he was more awake. Kasamatsu realized that he was still safe in the room with Luca, so he fell back onto the bed, groaning. He draped his arm over his eyes, blocking out the light. "Why?" He croaked tiredly.

From the other side of the room, Luca chuckled softly. "Sorry, Yukio. I wanted to see what was on T.V and didn't know the volume was up so high..." He explained, the television now off.

"Sure..." Kasamatsu murmured.

The raven haired teenager pushed himself up and turned his head to check the clock. Kasamatsu resisted the urge to roll up into a cocoon of blankets and instead forced himself to get out of bed. He rubbed at his face tiredly and focused his attention on the hitman. He asked, "What time did you get up?"

Luca, who Kasamatsu realized was dressed in his fancy suit, shrugged. "Maybe around 4:00 in the morning?" He estimated.

"For what?" Kasamatsu scoffed. He glanced at the clock once again, staring at the red numbers that read 9:17. "Why were you gone for five hours?" The teen paused. "Or maybe I should ask you _what_ you were doing for _five hours?_ "

The Italian took a seat on Kasamatsu's bed. "Don't worry, Yukio. I wasn't about to leave without you. I realize your family is very important to you – your punch made that pretty clear."

"Hmph. Good," Kasamatsu grumbled out. "But I wasn't worried about that." He added. Kasamatsu kicked the covers off of him and got up, stretching. He tilted his head at Luca, "Dare I wonder what _errands_ entail for a hitman?" He asked dryly.

Said hitman shook his head. "You don't want to know."

"Right." Kasamatsu nodded before heading into the bathroom. The teen did his business and walked out. He noticed that Luca was magically changed into his athletic clothes. The teen raised his eyebrow. "So, I'm guessing that is your way of saying you are ready to get your butt kicked by me?"

The look which Luca gave Kasamatsu made the teen think back to Aomine and his animalistic eyes. The steel-blue eyed teen erased the image from his thoughts and instead decided to turn his attention on how he was going to beat Luca in combat. Kasamatsu was eager to learn how to use a gun.

Luca brushed his chocolate hair from his eyes and motioned for Kasamatsu to step forward. "Just let me tell you something real quick," He said.

Kasamatsu furrowed his eyebrows but obeyed the older man, approaching him. The raven head stopped in front of Luca and was about to ask what he wanted to say but suddenly Kasamatsu was knocked off his feet and slammed onto his bed. He gasped and struggled as his hands were pinned. His face flushed, "What-"

"Never let your guard down. _Ever._ " Luca whispered as he stared down at Kasamatsu.

The olive skinned man peered into Kasamatsu's steel-blue orbs. His gaze flicked down the younger man's face, stopping on his parted lips. Luca faltered. He shook his head and got off of Kasamatsu. He gave the noirette a smile. "Just don't forget that you could get jumped at any given moment – be sure to keep that at the back of your mind." Luca instructed.

Kasamatsu pushed himself up, nodding. "Yeah..." He mumbled. "You made that apparent. I wasn't expecting that at all." He admitted, still surprised.

Once Kasamatsu was on his feet and changed out of his pyjamas, the two headed downstairs to eat breakfast. The food was good and the service was better. It was much better than what Kasamatsu went through before he was with Luca. Although he supposed he should not complain since Aomine was doing his best to keep him safe and out of sight.

When they finished eating, Luca lead them to a spacious gym which was filled with exercise equipment and the like. Kasamatsu was envious of all the equipment. They had better things than his elite school. The noirette turned to Luca, seeing him cracking his knuckles. It made Kasamatsu roll his eyes.

The teenager sat down and began stretching. "You know," He commented, "If this was basketball practice, I'd be telling you to go do your laps."

Luca smiled in amusement. He watched the younger man. "You said you were the captain, right?" He wondered.

Kasamatsu nodded. "I am," He paused, remembering that he had not been in school for a while. "Or, at least, I was..." The steel-blue eyed teenager suddenly realized how much he missed his friends. He lowered his gaze, staring at his runners. "I mean, I've probably been replaced by now."

The hitman stayed silent. "I think high school is difficult for everybody. But when I picture you in school, you give off this leadership-vibe and seem very responsible and respectable."

"I am," Kasamatsu huffed. "I was actually apart of the disciplinary committee." The raven head informed.

"Hmm." Luca hummed as he too began to stretch and warm up. "It's like you're the perfect person for this whole thing to happen to."

"Lucky me," Kasamatsu said dryly. He finished his stretches and stood back up, ready for his fight with Luca. "But then I guess I'd rather it be me than anyone else I know." Kasamatsu admitted quietly.

Luca smiled softly. "That's what I like about you."

"Let's just get on with the fight," Kasamatsu pressed, choosing to ignore Luca's previous statement.

"If you're so eager to get your ass handed to you, then fine." Luca's soft smile morphed into dangerous smirk. The older man raised his arms in defence and nodded for Kasamatsu to do the same.

When Kasamatsu was ready, Luca moved in swiftly. He swung his right arm which Kasamatsu dodged with ease. "Good," Luca commented, much like he did when he was teaching Kasamatsu. The young Italian swept his leg and managed to catch the raven head off guard.

Kasamatsu fell backwards. He used the momentum to roll back onto his feet, springing up and swinging at Luca. The steel-blue eyed teenager's punch was blocked with ease, making him angry.

Kasamatsu scowled. He continued his assault on Luca, keeping in mind to block as the hitman reminded him to do so many times before. The raven head moved fluidly in time with Luca as they both took punches, blocking each other. It was almost as if they were in some strange dance, the only thing missing was the music.

Their attempts to attack each other succeeded one moment and failed the next. With proper blocks and missed punches, the battle went on for what seemed like hours when it had only been a matter of minutes.

The younger man was not sure when it was going to end but he seemed to jinx himself – tripping over his own shoelace which came undone in their battle. Kasamatsu yelped and flailed, his arm smacking into Luca's chin. It caused the Italian to stumble back and in attempt to save himself, he ended up grabbing the teen's shirt.

The two crashed onto the mat and tumbled with the momentum. They landed in a heap of tangled limbs and pain. From underneath Luca, Kasamatsu let out a soft groan. He opened his eyes but immediately regretted doing so because a trickle of sweat dripped into his left eye. Kasamatsu hissed from the stinging pain. He reached up to wipe at his eye but it seemed to only make the pain worse.

Kasamatsu growled in frustration but faltered once Luca had grabbed his wrist, moving his arm. Kasamatsu stared at the older man with one eye screwed shut. "What?" He asked miserable.

Luca leaned down and licked Kasamatsu's left eye. He pulled away and studied the teen's eye. He smirked at Kasamatsu's obvious confused and flushed face. The hitman was about to explain his actions but was immediately interrupted by the door crashing open.

An out of breath man burst into the gym, a gun gripped tightly in his hand. He raised the weapon with his finger on the trigger. Luca moved fast and flipped Kasamatsu so the teen was behind him. The Italian was about to demand who sent the guy, but Kasamatsu was suddenly shoving him to the side, exclaiming loudly, " _Aomine!?_ "


	20. Sleep

"Yukio, get down!" Aomine yelled at the smaller man, his weapon still aimed at the brunette in front of him.

Kasamatsu shook his head hastily, "No!" He shouted as he jumped in front of Luca, hands up in the air. "Don't shoot him, Aomine! He, _uh_ – Luca helped me,"

Aomine gave the teenager a glare. "Yeah," He uttered. "Helped kidnap you." The young assassin spat out the words, giving the Italian man a dirty glare.

"Actually, I was hired by Yukio's father in case things went... awry." Luca cut in as he slowly lowered his weapon. He put it back in its holster and approached Aomine slowly, not wanting to alarm the other man any further.

The Italian held his hand out to Aomine, wanting to shake his hand. However, the darker skinned male just gave him a glare. Luca took the cue to lower his hand. He turned back to Kasamatsu, "If he's going to be like this then I don't think he's going to like the plan at all." Luca said to the teen, a hint of amusement in his voice.

" _Wha_ -" Kasamatsu sputtered. He was not ready to fill Aomine in on what they were going to do. But before he could say anything else, Aomine cut him off.

"What plan?" The blue haired male blurted out, looking in between Luca and Kasamatsu for an explanation. "Yukio," Aomine focused on the teenager. "I'm just going to say that whatever you were planning to do, you won't do."

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

Aomine stared at the noirette. "So... What were you going to do?" He asked awkwardly, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Kasamatsu snorted and shook his head. "I'm not going to tell you... Why do you even care, Aomine? You wanted to get rid of me back then. You were bringing me back to Tokyo so you could dump me there, an- and you didn't even tell me about my d- dad..." Kasamatsu's eyes burned from the tears that formed. He turned his back to Aomine, wiping at his eyes and wrapping his arms around himself.

A silence followed and Aomine swallowed thickly. "That's not true, Yukio." The royal blue eyed man whispered. "And about your father – I... I'm sorry," Aomine fell silent for a few seconds, thinking back to the letter. He studied the back of the teenager, adding, "Although, in my defence, I didn't find out about it until I got that note from Akashi."

Kasamatsu turned back to Aomine. "Whose Akashi?" He asked, remembering that he had heard that name from somewhere but he was not sure where.

" _Shit._ " Aomine cursed under his breath. He rubbed the back of his neck, wishing that he had not used the man's real name so casually. "He's kind of like our handler... In a way, I guess. You can just call him my boss." Aomine explained awkwardly. "But don't tell anyone you know him. Or rather, don't even mention his name."

"That man has many enemies, Yukio," Luca cut in, a frown on his face. "If the wrong person were to hear you say his name then you'd likely be in danger." The Italian cast Kasamatsu a worried glance.

Kasamatsu looked from Aomine to Luca. He scoffed. "Fine, whatever. I promise not to talk about this _Voldemort_ -guy."

Aomine gave Kasamatsu a confused stare while Luca snorted in amusement. "You lost me," Aomine muttered, suddenly annoyed because the brunette he barely knew seemed to understand Kasamatsu better than him.

Kasamatsu only smirked, a hand on his hip. "I wouldn't expect you to understand, Aomine." The raven haired teen quipped. "You don't exactly seem like the type to read much books."

"Yukio," Aomine huffed. "I'm insulted."

"Well, what have you read? I mean, you don't even know what Harry Potter is." Kasamatsu gave a small shrug.

The tanned, blue haired man turned away, arms crossed. "It's a movie about some kid, or something..." Aomine retorted. He added in, "And I've read Romeo and Juliet." The assassin sounded smug.

"Uh-huh..." Kasamatsu gave Aomine a look of disbelief, further annoying the man. "When did you ever read Shakespeare?"

Aomine avoided staring into Kasamatsu's steel-blue orbs. He scratched his head, "Oh, you know... Probably sometime during my first year before I dropped out..." Aomine admitted quietly.

"Wow..." Kasamatsu commented. The raven head walked to the bench and took a seat. He picked up the water he brought from breakfast earlier and took a drink. With all the training he has been doing with Luca was beginning to make his body ache. Now with the sudden appearance of Aomine, Kasamatsu's mental state seemed shaky and fatigued. The young man rubbed his face tiredly and after a few moments, his eyes found Aomine. Kasamatsu stared at the twenty-four year old, his heart aching from the events that happened just before he was taken from his side.

"Aomine..." The noirette called softly. "Why did you come looking for me? You should have just got on that plan and went home. I mean, that _Akashi_ guy said your job was over, right?" Kasamatsu was about to say something else relating to the topic but he was interrupted by the tanned man's fist slamming into the wall, startling him.

"I don't give a fuck what Akashi said. My job is over when I say it's over." Aomine looked infuriated. It made Kasamatsu feel on edge – as well as Luca, giving how the Italian took a couple steps towards the teenager.

It pissed Aomine off even more but the blue haired man held his tongue because he did not want to make anything worse. The assassin took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before releasing it slowly. His royal blue irises met Kasamatsu's eyes and he stared into them. "Yukio," Aomine whispered. "I think we just need to talk about what went down..."

Aomine's eyes flicked to Luca, who was standing next to his charge, his arms crossed over his broad chest. " _Alone._ " Aomine emphasized.

Kasamatsu just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine." He begrudgingly agreed. "If you want to explain yourself that badly, then fine." The noirette glanced at Luca, who responded with a shrug.

"Don't mind me," Luca commented. "I'll just be – _uhh_... Over here." The tall Italian man motioned to all of the exercise equipment. The hitman wandered over to one of the machines, leaning on it awkwardly.

The noirette smirked, amused. Kasamatsu turned his attention back to Aomine and pointed to the door. "Let's go talk." He commanded.

Aomine lead the younger man out into the hallway. They walked into the lobby and headed to a secluded area where they were sure no one would disturb them. The assassin took a seat and motioned for Kasamatsu to do the same. He cleared his throat, although he still felt a lump in there. "So..." Aomine shifted awkwardly in his seat. "That guy... Was he really hired by your father?"

"Apparently," Kasamatsu shrugged, leaning back into the chair. "I was with Luca for the first couple days and then... Then we met with the man he was pretending to work for – or something." The teenager went quiet. "I don't know the details but Luca gave the mafia-guy a fake USB drive and took me and left. Now we're here."

Aomine bobbed his head as he slowly digested all the new information. "Tch," The blue eyed man clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I guess I gotta hand it to your old man, Yukio. He thought of everything." Aomine smirked, despite his displeasure of not being in the loop of Kasamatsu Takeru's plans.

' _Oh well,_ ' Aomine mused. ' _It was probably better this way._ '

There was a pregnant pause in the air, verging on awkward. Aomine decided to change the subject, steering it away from the teen's father. "I know my _boss_ told me to bring you back to Japan but just let me tell you – I had a plan. Kinda." The assassin informed.

"Oh, really?" Kasamatsu rested his chin on his open palms, staring up at Aomine. "Do tell." The raven head motioned for Aomine to continue on explaining himself.

Aomine narrowed his eyes, annoyed by the teen's cheekiness. He pushed that feeling aside, knowing that his previous actions hurt the younger man much more. Aomine wet his lips, "I was going to bring you back to Japan and I was probably going to tell Akashi to go screw himself."

"And how well would _that_ have ended for you?" Kasamatsu interrupted.

Aomine snorted. "Not very good. But I don't give a shit." The tanned man shook his head, lowering his eyes to the table. "Either way, I was thinking we could go to one of my hide-outs and wait there until I managed to convince Akashi to help me properly. I-..." Aomine trailed off.

"Yukio, whatever you're planning on doing with Luca, I want to be apart of it. All right?" Aomine stared into Kasamatsu's steel-blue orbs. The assassin could see the determination shining in the younger man's eyes, as well as feel the stubbornness coming from Kasamatsu.

The high school student studied the older man. He thought about Aomine's sudden decision of wanting to help him. He let his gaze fall to the table, choosing to stare at a speck on the table. "Actually the guy who had me kidnapped, the one I told you about... He was the guy who had my father killed. My dad gave me the USB to keep safe and the man wanted it. He was-" Kasamatsu bit his lip, tears pricking his eyes.

"Aomine... He has my mother and my little brothers... I- I _need_ to save them." Kasamatsu's voice wavered with his emotions, his vision blurred. The teen wiped at his eyes, sniffling. He glanced back at Aomine, who was staring at him intently.

The assassin reached across the table and grabbed Kasamatsu's hand, squeezing it tightly. It made the younger man feel better. "Okay, Yukio. I'll join you on this quest of yours."

Kasamatsu just nodded. He did not trust his voice, so he did not say anything. Although now the noirette felt better about getting his family back. Not only did he have a hitman with him, but an assassin on his side, as well. Kasamatsu smiled.

"Thanks, Aomine..." He whispered.

Aomine gave Kasamatsu a nod.

♦ ♥ ♦

When the two returned to the exercise room, Kasamatsu was not all that surprised to see Luca passed out on one of the benches. The slumbering man had a damp cloth draped over his eyes, blocking out the light. Kasamatsu knew that the hitman was beyond tired, seeing as how he was up at the crack of dawn every day. The teenager knew he was up late, as well, since Kasamatsu always was asleep before him.

"Must be nice," Aomine said dryly, staring at the brunette. He crossed his arms, leaning against the wall. "I've barely slept at all since you were gone." The tanned man commented in a huff.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes. "Congratulations, you don't know how to take care of yourself." He replied cheekily. "But... Thanks, again... For not giving up on me." The teenager flushed, suddenly feeling awkward about everything.

Aomine smirked, wrapping an arm around the teen's shoulders. "Don't worry, Yukio. I'll never give up on you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm gonna take another break.
> 
> I'll probably post the last of the chapters tonight or tomorrow morning.
> 
> Thanks for reading thus far ♥


	21. Travel

The next day, where both Luca and Aomine got the sleep they needed, the three of them discussed on what to do next.

"I know where your family is being held but we'll need to go back to Japan." Luca told Kasamatsu. "And if I'm right, the fake USB should still be doing its job running them in loops."

"You better be right..." Kasamatsu mumbled. He did not want to think about what would happen if they were to find out they were given a fake. The raven head rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. "Maybe we should leave tonight."

"Maybe. But rushing around isn't going to do us any good." Aomine revealed. "We need to come up with a new plan... I'll see what I can do, in case we need any favors..." The tanned man stood up as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He walked out of the room, leaving Kasamatsu and Luca alone.

Kasamatsu turned his eyes from the door to Luca. "I suppose you have all sorts of secret connections and stuff?" The teenager assumed.

Luca smirked. "I've got my fair share."

"Great." Despite sounding so sarcastic, Kasamatsu did think it was good for their situation. More help would be great but then again he was not sure who he could trust. The steel-blue eyed teenager rubbed his arm, getting lost in thought.

As far as he knew, they were going to use those mini-bombs as a distraction. If the distraction worked, Luca (and now Aomine) would take out the men who stayed behind and Kasamatsu would search for his mother and brothers. When he would find them, Kasamatsu would take them to where they were going to meet back up. As to how they were getting off the small island, he was not entirely sure yet. Kasamatsu just figured he would let Luca think about that part.

A knock on the door drew Kasamatsu from his thoughts. He glanced at the door, then to Luca. The Italian snorted and got up from his chair. "I bet that guy forgot his key-card." At his words, Kasamatsu rolled his eyes because it seemed liked something a focused Aomine would do.

"He's an idiot." Kasamatsu told Luca.

Luca opened the door to reveal an annoyed Aomine. "You forgot the key-card."

"I forgot it." Aomine confirmed begrudgingly. He stepped into the room and kicked the door closed. The royal blue eyed man looked at Kasamatsu, narrowing his eyes. "And don't think I didn't hear you, brat." He huffed before he took a step.

Aomine put his phone on the table, staring at it intently. "I talked to a couple of my friends – they said they'll be happy to help." The blue haired man turned his gaze to Luca, who nodded in return.

"I can't promise any extra men but I do know some people who owe me favors. I could get us a boat big enough for everyone."

"And everything." Aomine glanced at the mini-bombs which lay inside a big, brown box.

The brunette smirked. "Don't worry, our travel plans are taken care of."

Kasamatsu nodded and leaned back in his seat, staring at a speck on the table. He smiled slightly, feeling happy that they were going to be getting his family back. He was still upset that his father had sent them away but hopefully whoever they were with was taking care of them. Kasamatsu's smile melted, suddenly wondering who exactly their 'family friend' was.

The teenager thought about his parents friends and he was sure his father would not drag any of them into their problems. ' _Unless he just said it was a family friend but really someone he worked with..._ ' Kasamatsu resisted the urge to groan in annoyance. He rubbed at his face, wishing everything was less complicated.

At the sound of footsteps, Kasamatsu looked up. He watched Luca tap away on his cell, probably sending a message of some sort. He turned his steel-blue colored eyes to Aomine who was just leaning back in his chair. "Aomine," Kasamatsu called, catching the older man's attention.

"Hmn?" Aomine grunted.

Kasamatsu pursed his lips. The young man gave Aomine a pointed look before he continued, "Who were these friends you contacted? Do I... Have I seen any of them?"

Maybe looked away, avoiding Kasamatsu's piercing eyes. " _Maybe_..." The assassin whispered as he leaned his head in his palm, staring at the black television screen. "Or maybe not."

Kasamatsu sighed. "Stop with your stupid mind games. I've had enough of that..."

"Right... My bad," Aomine's apology attempt made Kasamatsu snort. The blue haired male wet his lips, "Okay, _fine_. I may have talked to my shadow-friend, who in turn talked to the idiot and... the beast."

"What kind of nicknames are those?" Kasamatsu stared at Aomine incredulously. "This beast guy better be scary..."

"Not really." Aomine chuckled. "He's kinda like me..."

"Oh, god..." Kasamatsu pinched the bridge of his nose.

Aomine glared at the younger man. "I'm not _that_ bad, Yukio." He told the teenager. "Besides, you've already met him..." With that, Aomine peeled his attention away from the teen, pretending to take an interest in the flyer that was left on the table.

Kasamatsu stared at Aomine. He mulled over who it could have been. He only met a few of the people Aomine knew. His mind drifted back to the two-toned red head he met a couple times. Once at the grocery store then the time when he came barring bad news for Aomine. ' _Kagami-san doesn't seem like a beast..._ ' The noirette thought, frowning.

"So, Yukio," Luca roused the younger man from his thoughts. "Did you want to learn how to use that gun yet?"

Kasamatsu perked up. "Really? Even though we never really finished our fight?"

"Speaking of..." Aomine interrupted, eyes narrowed. "Why were you two so close?"

Luca replied with a nonchalant shrug. "It was just training. Yukio is pretty good at hand-to-hand combat, you know."

"Oh, really." Aomine huffed. The tall man had his arms crossed over his chest. He glanced at Kasamatsu and was about to question the teen about his apparent skills but when he looked at Kasamatsu, the teen was staring at his feet, cheeks tinted red. Aomine glared.

Kasamatsu felt Aomine's heated glare but he ignored it. He was thinking back to yesterday when Luca had randomly licked his eye. It was odd but the more he thought about it, Kasamatsu realized that when he did that, the stinging pain from the sweat in his eye had stopped. The raven head shook his head, not understanding the things Luca knew.

The high school student got up, deciding to focus on his current objective. "Of course I want to learn how to. Like you said, I might need to when..." Kasamatsu trailed off.

He was sure Aomine and Luca have shot many people, maybe even killed dozens. Maybe more. But Kasamatsu has never purposely hurt anyone before. To suddenly be put on the spot, pit against men who kidnapped his mother and little brother – Kasamatsu was sure he would do it. Anything to get his family back safe and sound.

"Yukio," Luca's soft voice brought him back to the present. Kasamatsu blinked. He looked to see Luca and Aomine standing by the door. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Kasamatsu asked, brows furrowed.

Luca raised his eyebrow at him, as if silently asking ' _really?_ '. "Where do you think? The shooting range."

"Oh." Kasamatsu should have known.

♦ ♥ ♦

Kasamatsu's first attempt at shooting a gun nearly made him teeter from the kick. He flushed from embarrassment as Aomine laughed at him, the assassin being silenced as Luca smacked him. Aomine's grunt of pain made the teenager feel somewhat better but Kasamatsu was determined to shoot the gun properly.

He wrapped his hands tightly around the handle and aimed at the target sheet hanging far back once more. Kasamatsu's tongue poked out from the corner of his mouth as he focused on his aim. He pulled the trigger. Kasamatsu lowered the weapon, frowning when he noticed that he completely missed the target. At least he managed not to flinch.

"Again," Luca said softly, his hands moving the teenager's arms up. The hitman moved Kasamatsu into position and helped the raven head aim. When he thought he was good, Luca told Kasamatsu to pull the trigger.

Kasamatsu did as he was told and pulled the trigger. He blinked from the loud bang, the kick from the gun ringing in his body. The steel-blue eyed man lowered the gun and stared at the target which now had a hole in its chest. Kasamatsu smiled.


	22. Race

The plane ride the next day proved to be uneventful.

Aside from some minor turbulence which seemed to freak Aomine out, nothing really happened. In fact, Luca was asleep for nearly half of the flight which left Kasamatsu to watch the blue haired man complain about the flight. The teen even teased Aomine, especially since he was not like that during their last flight – but then again, there was no turbulence surprisingly.

When the plane landed, Kasamatsu was the first of the three off. He inhaled deeply, finding that he missed the smell of Japan. Which was odd. In any case, the teenager was happy to be back home. Although technically he was sure his real home was abandoned. Kasamatsu pushed the thoughts from his mind, not wanting to dwell on it.

The raven head just wanted to focus on the task at hand.

♦ ♥ ♦

As previously discussed, Aomine brought them to one of his 'hide-outs'. It was a small, crummy apartment but as Aomine told them, it was a place to sleep.

Luca put his bag down and stared at the dust-covered couch. "You haven't been here in a while, huh?" He asked as he trailed his finger along the cushion, leaving a spotless trail. He wiped his fingers on a napkin he pulled from his pocket and turned around. "We won't be here long, correct?"

"Nope." Aomine told the Italian.

Kasamatsu looked in between the two. He wiped off the dust from one of the chairs and took a seat. The noirette knew they were pretty much in a race against time. The mafioso could have gotten professional help in order to get into the USB. It worried Kasamatsu but the teenager knew he should not focus on that emotion because it could just make things worse. Instead, like Luca had told him before, concentrate on the feelings of determination.

A small poke on his nose pulled him from his inner thoughts. Aomine was standing in front of him, his hands now in his pockets. "I'll be back soon, just going to get us food."

"After refueling, we'll need to rest up for tomorrow." Luca informed Kasamatsu. He grabbed his bag of explosives and slid it under the dusty bed. "I already contacted the guy who'll lend me a boat, so we got that covered."

"That's good." Kasamatsu nodded. His voice was strained but he assumed it was because he hardly said anything since being on the plane earlier that day. The steel-blue eyed teen glanced back at Aomine who was swinging the key ring on his finger, just about to leave. He watched the man open the door and shut it behind him.

"Are you worried he's going to leave or something?" Kasamatsu's head shot in Luca's direction. He stared at the emerald eyed man, his heart racing suddenly.

"Pfft, _no._ " Kasamatsu scoffed. He rubbed his arm awkwardly and stood up. The teenager walked over to the window and was about to push aside the curtain to look outside but stopped himself. He spun around and went to the bed, pulling at the blankets. "I know we won't be here that long but inhaling all this dust is still bad." Kasamatsu mumbled, figuring he should dust them off outside.

Luca walked up to the younger man, stopping him in his tracks. Kasamatsu looked up at Luca, a small frown on his face. The Italian put his hand over Kasamatsu's, moving the teen's hands down. "It's okay, Yukio." He quietly told the teenager.

"But-"

"It's okay." Luca repeated as he took the blanket from him and pulled him into a hug. He held the raven head close to his chest, rubbing his back soothingly, just like his mother had done to him when he was little.

Kasamatsu furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes watering. He slowly wrapped his arms around Luca, accepting the man's hug. He remained silent, taking comfort in Luca's warmth. Kasamatsu took a deep, calming breath and pulled away. The teen wiped at his eyes just before giving Luca a small glare. "Just so you know, I wasn't worried. Or crying." Kasamatsu said in his own defence.

"Just making sure." Luca responded with a shrug.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes.

A few minutes later, Aomine was back. The assassin came in, carrying an armful of bags which he put down on the table. Kasamatsu walked over, staring at all the fast food Aomine brought back. "Do we really need this much?" Kasamatsu asked, cringing.

Aomine snorted. "Us? Not really. But the beast isn't called _the beast_ for nothing."

As he said this, a few more people walked inside. The living room was suddenly much more cramped that it had been. Kasamatsu stared at the newest editions, immediately recognizing one of them. "Kagami-san," He said, surprised.

The two-toned red head turned to him, smiling. "Hey." Kagami waved in greeting. The ruby eyed man was about to say something else but he was suddenly shoved to the side by a blond guy. He had a big grin on his face as he approached Kasamatsu.

"You're Kasamatsu-kun, right? Right?" The golden eyed man grabbed the teenager's hand, shaking it excitedly. "Aominecchi has said so much about you! He wanted us to help so bad- _GAH!_ "

Kasamatsu cringed as Aomine sent the blond flying into the wall. "Uhm..." Kasamatsu fell silent, staring at the small crack in the wall. "Will he be okay?"

"It's just some minor brain damage, you can't tell the difference." Aomine waved it off.

A light blue haired man appeared beside Aomine. He was much shorted in comparison to Aomine and the others but what was even more odd was his lack of presence. Kasamatsu was sure he made a great assassin, assuming he had the same job as Aomine. "Don't worry, Kasamatsu-kun. Kise-kun is kind of like a cockroach."

"You guys are so mean to me!" The blond – Kise – whined once he got up from the ground. He was rubbing his head and pulling small bits of drywall from his golden locks.

The pale blue eyed man stepped around Kise, holding his hand out to Kasamatsu. "It's been awhile since we last saw you," He said, giving the teen a friendly smile. "I'm Kuroko Tetsuya, otherwise known as Aomine-kun's 'shadow friend'."

"Oh," Kasamatsu blinked. " _Ohh._ "

_Now he remembered where he had seen these two from._ They were the two guys he and Aomine met with when they had to switch rides. Kasamatsu shook his head and awkwardly shook Kuroko's hand. "I- It's nice to meet you..." He replied, not really knowing what else to say.

"I'm _fine,_ by the way." Kagami cut in as he dusted off his clothes. Kuroko just gave Kagami a smile, which the taller man replied with a glare. Kagami directed his glare to Kise. "Just be glad that Ahomine already decked you into that wall or I would have done worse." He huffed out.

"So mean." Kise pouted.

The blond haired man turned away from Kagami's glaring eyes and focused on Luca, who was leaning on the wall, watching everyone. "Hey! You're that guy that Aominecchi wanted info on." Kise smirked. The golden eyed man dodged a book which Aomine whipped in his direction and approached Luca. "I'm Kise Ryouta!"

"Luca Valentino." Luca offered the blond a smile.

Kuroko tilted his head at the Italian. "So it turns out you're actually working with the good guys." Luca nodded. A faint smile appeared on Kuroko's face. "It's a shame. Aomine-kun was looking forward to ending you."

Luca smirked. "As if he could."

"I'm right here." Aomine butt in, glaring at the two. The tanned man turned away and dumped the contents of the bags. "I can see you two are becoming fast friends. But lets just eat and sleep. We have a busy day tomorrow."

Kasamatsu walked over to the table, staring at all the burgers. "Maji Burger?" He questioned with a laugh.

Kagami was immediately at the table, grabbing a few burgers from the huge pile. "Maji Burger is the best." He said as he unwrapped one and practically shoved it into his mouth.

Kasamatsu watched in minor fascination. He grabbed one and took the wrapped off. He turned it around in his hand and took a bite. "I missed Maji Burger..." The teenager decided. Kasamatsu knew he was gone from Japan for too long if he was missing Maji Burger, of all things. But then again, America was not the same.

Although, the more he thought about the food he missed, Kasamatsu really missed the taste of his mother's cooking. He smiled softly at the memory.

When Kasamatsu finished eating his one burger, he looked at the pile to see that it had dissipated with rapid speed. He turned his head to Kagami who was yet again shoving a cheeseburger in his mouth as he added the crushed up wrapped to the garbage pile he accumulated. ' _I guess this is why Aomine was referring to Kagami-san being a... beast..._ '

Once everyone got their fill of food, they decided to go to sleep. They needed to be energized and focused for their rescue mission. The three new arrivals took the floor, Kise the only one complaining about how dirty it was. Luca was on the couch after he dusted it, which left Aomine and Kasamatsu in the small bedroom. Kasamatsu crashed on the bed, forgetting that it was covered in dust which flew up everywhere. He coughed and waved his hand about as it tried to settle.

Aomine just snorted in amusement at him as he gingerly lay down, eyes glued to the ceiling. Once the dust settled, Kasamatsu joined Aomine in staring at the darkened ceiling. He craned his neck to peer at Aomine. "I know I already thanked you for deciding to help me and stuff... but thanks, again." The steel-blue eyed teen said softly.

Aomine shifted his blue eyes to him, drinking in the younger man's features. "And I know I've already said I wouldn't give up on you." The tanned man rolled onto his side, facing Kasamatsu. He closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. "Don't forget to thank the others tomorrow..." Aomine whispered as slowly drifted into dreamland.

Kasamatsu nodded, despite Aomine not being able to see him because he was drifting off. "I know," The teenager told Aomine. "I'll be sure to thank them properly tomorrow." Kasamatsu closed his eyes, willing himself to fall asleep as easily as Aomine had.

Only, it did not happen.

The teenager lay awake, gradually becoming more annoyed with himself for not being able to go to sleep. He was sure out in the living room area the others were already fast asleep and it was just him awake. Kasamatsu rolled onto his side, being careful not to disturb Aomine. He sighed and looked around the room as his eyes had long adjusted to the dark. The teen's eyes landed on a framed photo which sat on a beat-up dresser.

It was of a woman and a child. The child had a huge grin on his face while the woman had a tired smile on her face, arms wrapped around the jubilant child. Kasamatsu was sure it was of Aomine and his mother. The assassin appeared to be around the age of four, maybe five.

Kasamatsu felt sad looking at the photo. He also felt like he was suddenly invading Aomine's personal life and boundaries so he flipped around and instead focused on the man himself. Aomine's lips were parted as he snored softly. He had a bit of drool at the corner of his mouth, making Kasamatsu smile in amusement.

The teenager studied the slumbering man as he thought about all the stuff they have been through. The stuff they will be going through, as well. Kasamatsu was not sure of what was going to happen when everything was all said and done but he knew he still wanted to be in Aomine's life. As troublesome as it seemed.

The steel-blue eyed teen shifted as he leaned forward. His lashes tickled his cheeks as he closed his eyes, moving in close enough to place a soft, chaste kiss against the man's chapped lips. Kasamatsu pulled away and buried his face in his pillow, his face burning.

' _Why did I do that?_ '


	23. Food

A middle aged woman with long, black hair pulled into a low ponytail sat at a long table. She held a baby in her arms, feeding him milk from a bottle. She moved her cobalt blue eyes to her other two sons, biting her bottom lip. She studied the two who were silently eating the food they were given before she turned her eyes to her own plate.

"What's wrong?" A man in a dark suit grunted.

She turned her head to look up at him, holding her baby closer to her. "Nothing..." The woman told him as she cast her eyes back to her untouched food. "I'm just not hungry."

"Now, now... The Boss needs you to eat." The man grinned.

His Japanese was crude and somewhat hard to understand, but the woman refused to listen to him. He glared at her from behind his darkened sunglasses. She avoided his heated stare, still chewing on the inside of her lip.

Her second oldest son glanced at her, his metallic blue eyes burning. She offered him a small smile. "Kazu, eat all your food." She told him, giving him a stern look. Kazuki rolled his eyes and continued to eat the bland food.

Next to Kazuki, was her third son, Yuuta. The four year old pushed the scrambled eggs around on his plate, taking amusement in the task. He had a smile of amusement on his face, which his mother was glad for.

The woman glanced at Haruto, a man who was close with her husband. He was unconscious, tied up to a chair. His shaggy orange hair hung over his face, hiding the many cuts and bruises the woman knew he had from the many beatings he got. She swallowed and decided to focus her attention back to her youngest son, Naoki. "Don't worry, Nao-chan," The woman whispered to her child, holding him protectively in her arms. "Daddy will save us."

♦ ♥ ♦

Kasamatsu held onto the railing as he leaned over the edge of the boat, enjoying the breeze rifling through his hair. He took comfort in the smell of the ocean as they sailed away from the bay. The sun was high in the sky and the teen guessed it was sometime around noon, and the group had left in the early hours of dawn. In the distance, Kasamatsu could see a speck which must be the small island they were going to. The place where his family was being held.

The eighteen year old moved away from the edge of the boat and walked over to Luca who was at the bridge, steering the craft. He stopped next to the man and watched him turn the wheel as necessary. "You said you didn't want to get too close to the island, right?" He asked.

Luca nodded, his eyes fixated on the glittering ocean. "That's right. We don't to alert them of our presence." The Italian told the younger man. Kasamatsu nodded in understanding. Luca glanced at him for a brief moment, giving the teen a smile. "We'll have Kise wait with the boat until we're ready for pick-up."

Kasamatsu scratched his cheek, wondering how all this was going to go. "Okay," He said, unsure. "Wait, does that mean we're going to swim there or something?"

Luca smirked. "Exactly."

"Oh, great." Kasamatsu sighed.

"What?" Luca questioned. "You can swim, can't you?"

"Of course." Kasamatsu scoffed, as if the man had just asked a dumb question. "I can swim, I just... I don't want to mess this up." The teen whispered, staring at his shoes. He could feel Luca's eyes on him but the teen continued to avoid eye contact.

"We won't mess it up, Yukio. Don't worry." The brunette gave Kasamatsu a big smile in which the teen laughed. "What?" Luca gave him a small glare.

"You looked like a dork." Kasamatsu chuckled.

" _Thanks._ " Luca replied sarcastically, a smile on his face.

The Italian shut off the engine as the boat slowed to a stop. Kasamatsu took in their surroundings which was mostly water. He could see the island better although they were not too far from it. After all, they still needed to swim there. Behind them, he could see the far-off buildings of Yokohama, the city where he lived. The city looked small from how far out they were and it almost made him laugh, for some reason. Kasamatsu shook his head and turned back to Luca.

The man was moving down the deck, stopping at the stairs which lead to the cabins below. Luca motioned for Kasamatsu to follow which the teen did. "You're going to need to change, the supplies are down there."

Kasamatsu nodded silently and followed the instructions to go into the cabin. The teen opened the door and saw Aomine, along with Kuroko, Kagami, and Kise all discussing what they were going to do. Aomine paused when he saw Kasamatsu, a small smile forming on his lips as he greeted the teen. "Hey,"

Kasamatsu faltered, his cheeks dusting pink. "H- Hey." He replied awkwardly, the memory of kissing the man last night suddenly flashing in his mind. He walked over to one of the cushioned benches and sat down, staring into one of the cardboard boxes. "What do I need to change into?" He asked, wanting to avoid looking at Aomine in fear of his heart beating crazily.

Kise, who was next to him, laughed. "A wet-suit, silly!" The blond grabbed the box and dug around until he pulled out a black and blue colored wet-suit. "We're already here, right?" Kise asked, glancing out one of the portholes.

"Yeah," Kasamatsu confirmed once he took the wet-suit from Kise. "Luca said to get ready." The teenager looked around the room and noticed that aside from a bathroom, there was not really any privacy. It was one big area for people to sit and relax during the boat ride, aside from the sundeck outside.

Kasamatsu made a beeline for the bathroom, wanting to change in there. He closed the door behind him and stripped of his clothes except for his underwear. He put the wet-suit on with slight difficulty but managed it in the end. Kasamatsu zipped it all the way up and stared at his reflection. He snorted in amusement, finding that he looked ridiculous.

Despite his feeling of looking so out of place, the noirette came out. The others were all in the wet-suits already, save for Kise who was going to be their get away driver. Luca was no where in sight so Kasamatsu assumed that he was following the necessary procedures on deck before he changed into his wet-suit.

"Are you ready for this?" Kagami asked, staring at everyone. Kuroko nodded as he toyed with his rebreather.

Next to Kagami, Aomine scoffed. "I was born ready." He smirked at the ruby eyed man. "But seriously, we got this." The blue haired man said, directing his gaze to Kasamatsu – as if he had sensed the teenager's doubts and worries from earlier. Kasamatsu swallowed the lump in his throat.

"I'm ready." The steel-blue eyed teen said, picking up one of the rebreathers.

Luca came down into the cabin and looked everyone over. He smiled. "We make a good team, I think."

"I'm just sad I can't be there for the action," Kise whined, plopping down on one of the cushioned benches. He crossed his arms and looked at Kuroko. "But I know Kurokocchi will do better in my place." The golden eyed man grinned.

Kuroko returned Kise's grin with a smile. "Of course, I'm not a shadow for nothing." The light blue haired man replied.

"Just let me get changed." Luca said as he undid the buttons on his white dress shirt. He pulled it off and tossed it in the corner of the room, doing the same with his pants. Kasamatsu turned away, instead staring out one of the portholes. He stared into the water, seeing streaks of sunlight dancing around.

When Luca was ready, the five of them exited the cabin and went to the sundeck where there was a small area for diving. Kasamatsu hopped down and squeezed the rebreather in his hands, his nerves getting the better of him yet again. The teenager took a calming breath and instead focused on how happy he will be when his mother and brothers are safe and sound on board.

Kasamatsu put his rebreather on and waited for the others. He stared at the glittering water, wondering how long it would take to swim to the nearby island. There was also the question of whether or not his mother knew of his father's death lurked in the back of his mind but he pushed those thoughts aside.

"Okay, just follow me to the island. Once we get there, we'll split up like we discussed and our plan will be underway." Luca explained, looking at each of them. "Here we go." The chocolate brunette said before he put his rebreather on.

Aomine tossed the water-proof duffel bag into the water as Luca jumped in. The others followed suit and Kasamatsu was left standing there. The raven head pulled his bulky goggles over his eyes and jumped into the water. It swallowed him whole and was cold and although the wet-suit helped a bunch, the teen still got goosebumps from the chill.

Kasamatsu swam after the others, venturing deeper into the water. It was both beautiful and terrifying, Kasamatsu thought. The teen never went diving before. At most, he swam at a public pool and never ventured too far into the water when he was at the beach.

♦ ♥ ♦

After a short period of swimming, Kasamatsu was glad that he was athletic because his limbs were beginning to ache. The group finally reached the small island and they managed to crawl onto the sandy beach unnoticed.

Kasamatsu rested on his knees, pulling the goggles and rebreather off his face. He shook his head, water falling from the strands of his hair. He breathed the fresh air in, glad he was not using the recycled air from the rebreather anymore. Kasamatsu brushed the wet strands from his face and peered at the others who also took their equipment off.

Luca was last on the beach, dragging the duffel bag with him. He let go of the strap and took his rebreather off, as well as his goggles. "All right, let's split up." The Italian man whispered, motioning for the groups to go their separate ways.

Everyone nodded.

Kuroko picked up the duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder and headed off by himself while Kagami and Luca trailed along the beach, hidden among the trees and bushes. With the three branching off, Aomine and Kasamatsu were left to cut through the private island's vegetation. They headed straight for the large house which was centered in the middle of the island.

' _Hold on, mom, Kazu, Yuuta, and Naoki..._ '


	24. Sad

"Just watch your step, Yukio." Aomine told the younger man, his eyes scanning the sandy ground which was littered with twigs and leafs. His eyes flicked up to search the area for any possible guards patrolling but saw no one.

Kasamatsu lowered his eyes from Aomine's back, nodding to himself. "Okay..." He whispered, being sure to watch where he stepped. The teen switched between watching his footing and scanning the island's vegetation.

It was not much longer when the pair spotted a large beach house through the trees. Aomine came to a halt, causing the teen to nearly bump into him if he was not paying attention. Kasamatsu peered around the taller man's body, eyeing the house. He pursed his lips, heart pounding because he knew he was getting closer to his family.

Ahead of him, Aomine pulled his weapon out. "Let's be really careful, okay? I want to get in unnoticed." The tanned man glanced back to Kasamatsu who gave him a confirming nod. "Good." Aomine smirked as he double-checked to make sure his weapon was loaded.

"Let's go get your family back."

♦ ♥ ♦

The light blue haired assassin crept around the perimeter of the house unnoticed. He blended with the shadows, tip-toeing past a couple guys in suits. When he came to a stop, Kuroko lightly put the duffle bag down. He was hidden under white faded steps which lead to the deck above of the beach house.

Kuroko pulled a couple of the explosives out and set them under the steps, a small smile on his face. The twenty-four year old got up and continued to set the small bombs up around the house, making sure the set the timer for when he flipped the switch.

From what Kuroko could tell, there were not many men positioned outside but he was not sure of how many were station inside the house. For keeping tabs on a mother and three child, he hoped it was not many.

Then again, perhaps their enemy liked to be prepared for anything.

♦ ♥ ♦

Kagami had his back to a tree, watching a blond haired man walk by from the corner of his eyes. The man's gun was slung over his shoulder and he appeared bored as he surveyed the area. The red eyed assassin glanced at Luca, who motioned to his eyes then pointed to the ground.

Kagami followed his gaze and realized that the man was walking just along their tracks in the sand. He smirked when the man just so happened to look down all because he dropped the leaf he was playing with. The man faltered, as if his mind was computing the other two sets of footprints in the sand.

The blond's head shot up and he spun around but before he could call for help or reach for his weapon, Kagami spun him into his chest. The two-toned red head held his hand over the man's mouth as he wrapped his other arm around the suit's neck, cutting off his air intake.

As the man struggled against him, Kagami tightened his grip as he ignored the man clawing at his arm, trying to break free. Eventually, the man stopped his attempts as he was rendered unconscious from the lack of oxygen.

Kagami lay the man behind some bushes, kicking some sand and leaves over him. He turned to Luca who just watched from the side. "Let's go." He said before he turned around and continued to search the area for more guys they needed to take out.

"I think I see our next target." Luca whispered, nodding his head in the direction of where he spotted another guy.

♦ ♥ ♦

Aiko flinched as a sickening crack was heard.

She averted her eyes from the man beating Haruto. The cobalt blue eyed woman wrapped the soft grey blanket further around her youngest child, Naoki. She hushed him quietly, rocking him in her arms.

Seated next to her was Yuuta. He had his face buried in her shirt, eyes squeezed shut and fingers gripping the fabric of his shirt. Pain blossomed in her heart, wishing that her children did not have to witness something so disturbing.

Aiko glanced at Kazuki, who unlike Yuuta, watched the foreign man beat their father's friend. He had a dark look in his eyes, lips formed in a tight frown. The metallic blue eyed teenager who was not even in high school glared with such hatred it made Aiko sad.

Kazuki could see the blood on the ground, the blood dripping from Haruto's broken nose, his lip, the cut on his cheek... He could see the blood which stained their guard's bruised knuckles. It made him sick. Angry.

" _Just tell me code and I'll leave you alone._ " The man asked Haruto in English, his eyes alight.

Haruto just chuckled. He spat out some of the blood that collected in his mouth, watching the glob land on the man's shiny, black shoe. He snorted in laughter. It landed him another punch to the face.

This time he could feel the man's knuckles cut into the darkened bruised that was on his face since the previous day. It was so painful but Haruto did not let it show. He only returned the man's disgusted glare with a grin, taking amusement in the angry spark that flashed in the man's hardened eyes.

"I'd rather die than tell you anything useful." Haruto responded finally.

" _Then so be it_." The man replied coldly.

Just as he was about to pull his gun from its holster, another suit came running in. He was slightly out of breath and had sweat dripping from his head from the hot weather. " _Sir!_ " He shouted.

"What is it?" The man sneered at the new arrival.

The guy faltered, but continued. " _I- It's just that we spotted a boat a ways away from us_."

At the mention of a boat, Aiko raised her head and looked at Haruto, who shared her same confusion and curiosity.

"What?" The man hissed. "Show me."

The two suits leave the room momentarily, leaving a heavy silence in their wake. Aiko takes in Haruto's injuries and wants so badly to say something to him but nothing could come out. She bites her tongue and turns her attention back to her children, mind still focused on the mention of a boat.

"Is daddy coming to get us?" Yuuta whispers to her, his watery eyes glued to hers.

Aiko smiles. "I hope he is." She replied.

As much as she wanted to tell Yuuta that ' _yes, daddy is coming',_ she did not want to raise Yuuta's hopes only for them to be shot down in an instant. They have already gone through so much ever since they were ambushed on their journey and taken hostage.

"I do too..." Yuuta replies softly, resting his head on his mother's lap.

Kazuki scoffs and Aiko shoots him a small glare. The second son shakes his head and turns his attention to the door which lead to the hallway where the two suits went. He stood up, hands in his pockets. "Kazu, sit down." Kazuki hears his mother say to him but he ignores her.

The young teenager approaches the door and tilts his head, trying to listen for anything. He could hear the muffled voices coming from the two but nothing else. After a couple minutes, the door swings open and Kazuki moves out of the way.

The man looked livid, teeth barred in anger. "Which one of you did it?!" He demanded, his Japanese slurred.

"We don't know what you're talking about," Haruto replied stiffly, glaring at their kidnapper.

The man was not having any of it.

He stormed to the couch where Aiko and the younger ones were seated and grabbed Yuuta by the arm. He yanked on the four-year old's arm, making him stand. Aiko gasped in horror while Haruto screamed at him to let him go. The man pulled his pistol out and aimed it at the child's head, yelling at them. "TELL ME WHO DID IT!? WHICH ONE OF YOU?"

Kazuki watched with wide eyes.

His heart seemed to stop beating as his blood suddenly turned to ice, fear racing through his veins instead of blood. The yelling and cries from Yuuta was slowly muted and replaced with white noise. It drowned out any other sound, except for the slow beat of his heart.

Kazuki's palms were clammy as he suddenly sprang forward, knocking the man to the ground. Yuuta stumbled away before he ran into his mother's arms, crying loudly. Haruto yelled at him, or maybe he was yelling at their kidnapper – Kazuki was not sure because of the blood roaring in his ears.

As they landed on the ground, Kazuki and the man rolled into the coffee table, knocking it over. The gun flew from the guy's grasp, landing a few feet away from them. The fourteen year old scrambled to his knees and tried to grab it but the man was quick, too. He grabbed his hoodie and yanked the teen back. Kazuki coughed as the hoodie squeezed on his neck briefly, startling him.

The man tossed him back with great force and Kazuki landed on his back, knocking the air from his lungs.

Kazuki gasped as he tried to regain his breath but the man crawled over him and swung his bruised fist. He punched the young man, the force cutting the teen's cheek slightly. Kazuki cried out in pain and before the man could hit him again, a loud bang cut through the air.

The metallic blue eyed teen flinched as blood splattered onto his face and stained his clothes. He lay there, shocked. Their kidnapper collapsed on the ground next to him, body still and lifeless. Kazuki blinked and looked in the direction of the gun shot, his ears still ringing. A pale man with light blue hair and matching eyes greeted his vision.

Kazuki shot up and crawled to where his mother was, staring. "Wh- Who are you?" He asked hesitantly, having never seen the blue haired man before. The teen was beginning to question whether Haruto or his mom did contact someone.

"I'm here to help." Kuroko replied, giving the group a soft smile.

Aiko shot Haruto a look but the man shrugged, clearly never having seen Kuroko either. The assassin put his gun away and slowly approached the orange haired man. "I'm going to release you, all right?" He said quietly. Kuroko pulled a knife out which he showed Haruto before cutting the zip-ties which tied the man's arms behind the chair.

Once freed, Haruto cautiously stood. He moved close to Aiko and the other three, his eyes glued to Kuroko. "Thanks." He muttered as he eyed the younger man.

More footsteps were heard and the four tensed, however Kuroko approached the door, opening it wider. Two more people came in, Kagami and Luca. Kuroko nodded a greeting. "I take it you took care of the guys outside?" He asked.

"Most of them, at least." Kagami replied, surveying the damage as well as the other occupants of the room. He offered the children a smile, who stared at them in both wonder and fear. "Don't worry, we aren't here to hurt you." The red eyed man told them.

Luca looked at Aiko, bowing his head in greeting. "I'm Luca, I was entrusted to protect Yukio by your husband when things got crazy."

"Yukio?" Aiko whispered, her heart skipping a beat. " _How_ \- Where... Is Yukio okay?"

Luca smiled. "Yes. Actually, he..." Before the brunette got the chance to finish his sentence, Aomine and Kasamatsu came jogging in.

"What's going on?" Aomine demanded. "We heard shouting and suddenly a gun, and-"

"Mom!" Kasamatsu pushed past the dark blue haired man, diving into the arms of his mother. The woman looked shocked but happy and relieved to see her oldest son. " _Mom_ , I'm sorry, I..." Kasamatsu trailed off, his eyes burning from the tears that welled up.

"Yukio, I missed you so much. I didn't know what happened to you, I thought that they-" Aiko cut herself off, shaking her heard. Her lips quivered as she hugged her son tightly, happy to have him back. "There hasn't been a day where I never thought of you." She pulled back and sprinkled kisses on Kasamatsu's face.

The teen laughed through his tears. "Me too..." He replied, happy to finally have his family back again.

Kasamatsu turned his eyes to Naoki, who stared up at him with big, curious eyes. "Hey, Nao..." He whispered, poking the baby's nose. Naoki giggled in return, his tiny fingers reaching for Kasamatsu's hand.

The eighteen-year old entertained his youngest brother and gave him his hand, finding it adorable the way Naoki squeezed it tight. He turned his eyes to Yuuta, who looked shaken but happy to see him. "Yuki-nii!" Yuuta shouted, diving for him.

The four year old wrapped both arms around his neck, his head buried in Kasamatsu's chest as he hugged him tight. Kasamatsu held Yuuta tight, rubbing his back to comfort his little brother.

"It's okay," Kasamatsu whispered.

The noirette looked at Kazuki who stood off to the side. "Kazuki," Kasamatsu said softly, staring at his wild haired brother. His eyes flicked to the dried blood on the centre of his bruised cheek and bit his lip. He felt horrible for not getting their in time to help Kazuki.

"Kazu-nii saved me!" Yuuta chirped, his fingers gripping a wrinkle in Kasamatsu's wet-suit. "The bad man was hurting me and Kazu-nii went all crazy and tackled him to the ground!"

As Yuuta explained, Kazuki scoffed and turned away. "I didn't go _crazy._ " He objected, cheeks flushed from the spotlight suddenly being on him. He awkwardly stood back, glaring at the wall. Kasamatsu smiled and ruffled his wild locks.

Whenever Kasamatsu did that, Kazuki always knocked his hand off but this time the metallic blue eyed teen let his older brother ruffle his hair. "Good job protecting Yuuta, Kazu." Kasamatsu said to him, smiling through his tears of relief.

"You'd do the same..." Kazuki retorted, his arms crossed.

"You're all so alike it's – like – blowing my mind." Aomine confessed, a grin on his face.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes at him. "What did you expect?" He taunted the older man.

Aomine shrugged. "I don't know," He said honestly. "But I like your family... They're like you." The tanned man gave Kasamatsu a smile, which the teen returned with a huff.

Kazuki stared at the dark skinned man and looked back to his older brother. He looked in between the two before turning back to the stranger who came in with his brother. "You're gross." Kazuki told Aomine.

Aomine twitched. "Is it too late to take back what I said?" He wondered.

Next to him, Kuroko smirked. "Yes."

Across the room, Luca turned away from the window. He slipped his phone back into a pocket inside his wet-suit, looking at everyone. "I hate to break up the happy reunion but I called Kise and he should be here any minute." The brunette informed. He turned to Kuroko, "Is everything set to blow?" He asked.

Kuroko nodded. "We're good." The pale assassin confirmed.

"Good." Luca smirked.

" _Uhh_ -" Haruto cut in, raising his hand as if he were asking a question in class. "What do you mean by ' _blow_ '?" The abused man questioned.

"You'll see once we're off this island." Kuroko responded as he passed by Haruto, leaving the living room area. Everyone began to follow suit, all making their way to the entrance of the beach house.

Kasamatsu stayed behind to help his mother, holding her arm tightly in hopes she would not fade away as if this were all some dream. The young man glanced at his mother's face, the same question lurking in the back of his mind. ' _Does she know about dad?... How would I even begin to tell her..._ ' The teenager decided to save those thoughts for when they were on the boat, sailing back to Yokohama Bay.

Once they made it onto the sandy beach, they were lead to the small dock where Kise was just pulling up to. The group which doubled with the rescue of Kasamatsu family and Haruto got onto the boat, all piling into the cabin area.

Kuroko handed out some blankets while Kagami pulled out some snacks for the kids. Kasamatsu sat next to his mother, watching as Naoki blew bubbles in her arms. He smiled at his baby brother, tickling his cheek. "Mom, I-... After I learned that bastard had you guys captive, I wanted to come and save you for a while... My friends helped and even got their own friends to help..." The noirette told his mother, leaning close to her.

Aiko smiled at her first born. "I'm glad you have such great friends, Yukio." She told him. The woman glanced at the dark blue haired man, studying him. "I'm happy that he was there for you when no one else could be. As well as Luca-kun."

Kasamatsu only nodded, not wanting to say anything. He rested his head on his mother's shoulder, watching Yuuta take all the snacks Kagami offered to him. Kazuki just took a look at the snack and turned away, disinterested. The two-toned red head froze, as if he turned to stone from Kazuki's rejection of his snacks.

Kuroko excused himself and headed back to the deck, joining Kise. After a minute or so, a loud explosion could be heard. Kasamatsu cringed. "Did those boys just blow up the whole island?" His mother questioned.

"Uhm... Yeah." Kasamatsu nodded.

"Oh..." Aiko said softly, blinking. "Good." She huffed.

The raven head smiled. "I missed you." It was probably the hundredth time he said it but Kasamatsu did not care. He would say it a million times more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoy Kasamatsu's brothers ♥
> 
> I know he only has 2 but I added Naoki because life goes on :P
> 
> Feel free to use his brothers if you want, just let me know!
> 
> ☺


	25. Game

When the group was finally back in the bay, they all filed off the boat.

They walked off the large dock and noticed that there was a limo waiting on the street for them. Kasamatsu arched his eyebrow once he was done messing around with the new clothes he put on and looked at Aomine, who was smirking. "Was this your doing?" He asked the tanned man.

"Yup," Aomine replied. "That _bastard_ actually listened to me."

Before Kasamatsu could ask Aomine what he meant by that, a shorter man got out of the limo. He had short red hair and mismatching red and gold eyes. He wore an unreadable expression on his face however the moment he looked at Kasamatsu's rugged-looking family, his expression softened. "Hello," He greeted the group.

"Hi!" Yuuta smiled up at the stranger. "I'm Yuuta!"

"Yuuta..." Kasamatsu sighed, shaking his head as his little brother's antics. The storm-cloud blue eyed child craned his neck to look up to Kasamatsu, giving his oldest brother a toothy grin. Yuuta grabbed Kasamatsu's hand, holding it tight. It made the teenager feel better.

The stranger only smiled down at Yuuta, crouching down to his level. "I'm Akashi Seijuurou." He introduced himself.

Kasamatsu's eyes widened. He glanced at Aomine but the man gave him a small shrug. Kasamatsu squeezed Yuuta's hand, finding that he did not want his brother to get to close to the guy who Aomine called his 'handler'. Yuuta only gave Akashi a wave, grin still on his face.

Akashi stood up and his red and golden irises landed on Kasamatsu. "So this is the infamous kid that Aomine wanted to protect so bad, even going as far as defying me..." The red head gave Kasamatsu a smile – although it seemed forced and appeared as if it were hiding an underlying message. Akashi took a step towards the teenager, studying the young man.

"Oi," Aomine walked up, eyes glaring down at Akashi.

Akashi smiled and turned away, walking back to the limo. "Everyone get in. My driver will escort us to your new house." The red head announced, holding the door open.

"New house?" Aiko questioned as she gently rocked Naoki in her arms. The baby was dozing off, having been through too much excitement that day. "What happened to our old one?"

"Aside from being ransacked and half-destroyed, it is too unsafe to bring you back there." Akashi explained, motioning for the others to file into the limousine. The heterochromatic eyed man looked back to Aiko, offering her a reassuring smile. "But don't worry, I already had my men go in a salvage anything they could. Your valuables are waiting at your new house."

"Thanks, Akashi." Aomine said gruffly.

The man's handler smirked. "It's no problem, Daiki."

♦ ♥ ♦

After nearly half an hour of driving, they finally pulled up to a curb. Kasamatsu peered out the window and his eyes widened. A large gate opened and the limousine turned into the large driveway. They pulled up to the large, double-doors which sat at the top of a wide, white staircase. ' _New house?_ ' Kasamatsu thought, frowning. ' _This place is more like a mansion._ '

Yuuta stared in awe as he clambered out of the limo. "Whoa! Mommy, look!"

"I know," Aiko laughed, unsure of this whole ordeal. "It's beautiful." She smiled.

"It's not necessary." Kazuki said defiantly. Kasamatsu rolled his eyes and lightly hit Kazuki over the head. "Hmph." The fourteen year old huffed, arms crossed over his chest.

Once everyone was inside, Aiko and the kids were shown their new rooms. Kasamatsu's room had boxes of things that had been in his old room. He assumed that Kazuki, Yuuta, and his mother's rooms were the same. While Kasamatsu was glad to have his own space, he found that he was going to miss having to share a room with Kazuki. This place was certainly an upgrade from their last house.

The young man took in his new, spacious room. He looked at his bed which was bigger than his last one. The spread was black which blues, which Kasamatsu was sure they took from the color scheme of his old bedroom. He rolled his eyes.

Kasamatsu left his room and walked across to where Kazuki's room was. He glared at the door when he already noticed a sign which the younger teen had tacked down. It was written with messy scribbles, saying 'Do not enter!'. Kasamatsu sighed and booted the door open. "Kazu, you know how mom feels about locked doors."

"Whatever..." Kazuki mumbled. The younger teen was sitting on his bed, his back facing Kasamatsu. He sniffled and rubbed at his nose, staring at the wall. Kasamatsu frowned.

"What's wrong?" He asked. After a second, Kasamatsu cringed because he knew what was wrong. What happened on that island was something that Kazuki could never forget. Watching a man get beat unconscious and tortured, his mother and younger brothers being threatened, then having to face death itself... Kasamatsu sighed. He sat down next to Kazuki. "I'm sorry." He whispered.

"Don't be..." The metallic blue eyed brother muttered. "This wasn't your fault, it was dad's... And now we don't even know where he is."

Kasamatsu bit his lip, suddenly remembering what he needed to tell his mother. "Kazu... I-... I need to tell you and the others something."

"I mean, he probably ran away or something." Kazuki scoffed, shaking his head. "Our old man was dumb."

Kasamatsu glared at his brother. "Don't say that!" He snapped, making Kazuki flinch.

Instantly, Kasamatsu calmed down. "Sorry." He said, wrapping his arm around his little brother's shoulders. "It's just-... As much as dad acted like a... like an idiot, he was still our dad and he was the best." The noirette smiled, patting Kazuki's head.

"Come on, lets go see how mom is doing."

The two brothers headed to their parents room which was located at the end of the hallway. It was the biggest room, already decorated with the things they owned previously. Kasamatsu knocked on the door and he heard a soft 'come in'. The oldest son opened the door and they stepped inside.

Kasamatsu noticed that Naoki was asleep in the crib in the corner, tucked in soft blankets to keep him warm. He smiled at the baby before looking to his mother who was holding one of their old photo albums in her hands. It made his heart squeeze painfully and what he needed to tell her made his chest hurt even more so.

Yuuta was sitting on a rug on the floor, playing with a board game he had found in his room. He looked up, excited to see his two older brothers. "Yuki-nii, Kazu-nii, do you want to play this game with me?" He asked, springing up to his feet.

Kazuki ruffled Yuuta's fluffy black hair. "Later, squirt." He told the four year old. "Yukio has some important he needs to tell us."

' _Thanks for putting me on the spot, Kazu... Although this is really important and no matter how painful it'll be, if I procrastinate it'll only hurt more in the end._ ' Kasamatsu took a deep breath, calming himself. Their mother, Aiko, turned to to face him.

Her tired, cobalt-blue colored eyes rested on her oldest son. She gave him a curious smile, as if telling him to proceed with whatever he needed to tell them. Kasamatsu chewed on the inside of his lip, wishing he did not have to break the terrible news to her. To his brothers.

"Yukio, sit down." Aiko chided, patting the bed next to her. She put the photo album down on the night stand and faced him properly. "What is it?"

"Mom, it's... It's about dad." A crease formed on his mother's brow as she became worried. Kasamatsu looked away from her searching eyes, staring at a wrinkle on his pants. "Mom... Dad is gone. He's dead."

"Oh..." Aiko said softly. She lowered his gaze, staring at her own lap. Tears welled up in her eyes and her lips quivered as her emotions got the best of her. "D- Do you know how? Or..."

Kasamatsu shook his head. "No, but... I'm sure he died protecting us to the very end." The teenager pulled his mother close, hugging her. Kazuki remained silent, staring at the wall while Yuuta got up and dove on Aiko's lap. Kasamatsu pet Yuuta's head, wanting to comfort his little brother. "I'm sorry, Yuu." He whispered.

"I knew it..." Kazuki eventually whispered, his blank stare now a glare. "When you snapped at me about dad, I-... I just knew. But I didn't want to think it was true." The wild haired teen shook his head.

Kazuki turned his eyes to Kasamatsu, staring deep into them. He cracked a smile, albeit pained. "At least our old man went down while fighting. Right? Protecting what he loved?"

"Yeah." Kasamatsu nodded.


	26. Rain

The rain fell hard, coming down in blankets and staining everything. It was as if the weather knew about the terrible news Kasamatsu had just broke to his family. He was at least glad he got it over with because prolonging it would not only hurt his mother but him, as well.

After he told his mother about her husband, Aiko took comfort in her children before she decided she wanted to be alone. Naoki was left to sleep in his crib, so Kasamatsu took Kazuki and Yuuta to his room. Yuuta had dried tears caked on his cheeks and swollen, red eyes. Kazuki looked indifferent, although Kasamatsu knew he was hurting on the inside.

Kasamatsu sat down on his bed, holding Yuuta close to his chest. "It's okay, Yuu..." He whispered. Despite it not really being okay since his four-year old brother just found out that his dad is dead. The child stopped crying long ago, having exhausted all his tears. Instead, he just cuddled close to Kasamatsu's chest, sniffling every so often.

"Is daddy in heaven?" Yuuta asked quietly after a couple minutes.

Kasamatsu glanced down at Yuuta, "Yeah, dad is in heaven." The teenager smiled, ruffling Yuuta's hair. The child returned his smile and hopped off of Kasamatsu's lap. He turned around, eyeing his older brother. "Yuki-nii, is mommy going to be okay?"

"Of course," Kasamatsu scoffed. "Mom is strong; just like you, Naoki, Kazu, and me." The noirette grinned. He stood up and patted Kazuki's shoulder, which the younger teen responded with slapping his hand away. Kasamatsu narrowed his eyes and pinched his younger brother's cheek, pulling on it slightly. "I know it's painful, Kazuki... But you don't need to act like an asshole who doesn't feel anything.

Yuuta giggled. "Yuki-nii said a bad word!" He teased.

Kazuki cracked a smile at that. "Whatever." He huffed out. The teen stood up and shoved his hands in his pockets. "So who're those guys that were with you?"

"Well... Dad hired Aomine to 'protect me', I guess. He also gave me this USB drive which is why you guys were taken hostage... Then this whole thing happened and I thought Luca was with the bad guys but as it turned out he was also working with Dad." Kasamatsu explained, realizing that a lot had happened during the past month or so.

"The other guys work with Aomine, though." The steel-blue eyed teen said, standing up. He brushed the wrinkles from his shirt and looked in between his brothers.

"One of those bastards kept mentioning something about a USB... But I didn't know what he was talking about." Kazuki mumbled, looking deep in thought. "There must be something really important on it if they need it that badly."

"I knew we were related." Kasamatsu teased as he lightly bumped Kazuki's shoulder. The younger teen rolled his eyes. "But yeah, I'm not sure exactly sure what's on it. I'm thinking it has information about that bastard's mafia family or whatever, though. We don't need to worry yet because Luca has it."

"Won't they come for it, though?" Kazuki questioned.

Kasamatsu nodded slowly, "Yeah. But I'm sure Luca and Aomine will think of something." He smiled.

"So are they, like, staying with us?" Kazuki asked, eyebrow raised. "Also, I don't like that Aomine-guy..." The fourteen-year old admitted, huffing in annoyance. He crossed his arms, giving Kasamatsu a narrow-eyed stare. "Something must have happened..."

" _What?_ " Kasamatsu blurted, his cheeks slightly tinted. "Nothing happened." He objected, turning away from his younger brother.

"Yeah. 'Cause your actions totally say ' _nothing happened_ '." Kazuki scoffed. "Just don't be all weird while I'm around."

"I'm not going to be ' _weird_ ', whatever that means." Kasamatsu glared at Kazuki, tempted to pull his brother's cheek once more.

The four-year old with storm-cloud blue eyes stared in between his two older brothers. "I don't get what you're talking about but stop fighting!" Yuuta puffed his cheeks out, his tiny hands balled up into fists. "Besides, I like Yuki-nii's friends! They're cool!"

Kasamatsu chuckled.

♦ ♥ ♦

A few hours later, Aiko knocked softly on her oldest son's door. She came in, seeing that Kasamatsu was reading a book with Yuuta while Kazuki was playing around on a laptop. "Hey," She said softly, greeting her children.

All three focused on her and soon enough Yuuta was bouncing off of Kasamatsu's lap and hugging her legs. "Mommy!" Yuuta beamed up at her. Aiko smiled and ran her fingers through Yuuta's dark locks.

"Kagami-kun said he made food for everyone, so if you're hungry, feel free to come downstairs." Aiko told the three. She looked down at Yuuta, "Are you hungry?" Aiko asked.

Yuuta nodded animatedly. "Yeah!" He chirped. "The food they gave us over there was gross!" The four-year old complained, sticking his tongue out for good measure. He blew a raspberry and held Aiko's hand. "Let's go!" Yuuta said, pulling their mother with him.

Kasamatsu got up and gave Kazuki a look. "Don't bother saying you aren't hungry because I know you are, Kazu. And if you aren't going to come peacefully then I will drag you by the ear." The eighteen-year old gave Kazuki a sweet smile.

"Right..." Kazuki stood up, not wanting his ear to be pulled off. He followed their mother downstairs with Kasamatsu trailing behind them.

The family entered the dining room where a whole bunch of food was set on the long dining table. "Wow!" Yuuta ran up, looking at all the food excitedly. Kagami smiled and looked at Aiko, "I hope no one is allergic to anything..."

"Nothing food related, at least." Aiko said. She took a seat, staring at the spread. "This must have taken a while, Kagami-kun. Thank you for cooking." The woman gave the two-toned red head a smile.

"I- It's no trouble. It's the least I could do." Kagami said as he scratched his cheek.

They were soon joined by Luca, Aomine and the others.

Kasamatsu glanced at Aomine who was talking to Kuroko. The light blue haired man nodded and turned to them once he was seated. "If it's not too much trouble, Aomine-kun and Luca-san will be staying here until the _cavalieri di guerra_ is dealt with accordingly. We won't be here as much but we will still help with anything we can." Kuroko offered.

"Thank you..." Aiko replied. "You have all already done so much." The woman mused. She looked at everyone, "I want to thank you properly for taking care of my Yukio, as well as helping us get away from those bad men. Even for this beautiful house... So, thank you."

"You're welcome." Akashi gave the woman a smile. "However there is no need to thank us, it's what we do." The red and golden eyed man said pleasantly. He shifted in his seat and turned his eyes to Kagami. "Now why don't we eat?"


	27. Sarcasm

After dinner and saying goodbye to those who were leaving, Kasamatsu went up to his room. He closed the door behind him and peered around his new bedroom. He still had boxes of his old things to go through but the teen figured he would do that later. Now, he wanted to do something else.

Kasamatsu sat at his new desk and opened up his old laptop. There was a brand new desktop computer stationed under his desk and a monitor but Kasamatsu had yet to touch it. He was still happy with his old laptop. The noirette opened it and clicked on the browser. He went on google and stared at the page, his mind wandering back to before they ate dinner.

' _What did Kuroko-san call them...? Something along the lines of... cava-… cavalieri di… guerra?_ ' The steel-blue eyed teen thought. He focused back on the search bar and typed those three words in. The first thing he found was that when translated from Italian, it meant the "Knights of War". Kasamatsu swallowed the lump in his throat. ' _How did dad get caught up with such a group?_ ' He wondered, chewing on his lip, deep in thought.

The teenager continued his search on the mafia family that was after that USB. All together, there was not much information on them but Kasamatsu managed to find some things out. They were ruthless and did not hesitate to take care of their enemies. While they respected their allies, if they were betrayed... Kasamatsu assumed the result was what they did to his father.

A soft knock on the door made the noirette jump. He closed his laptop and spun around in his chair just as the door opened. The steel-blue eyed teen relaxed when he saw that it was only Luca. "Hey," He greeted, staring at the chocolate-brown haired man. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to return this to you. Properly." Luca handed Kasamatsu the USB. The teen accepted the small device and stared at it. "Takeru entrusted that to you, so I think you need to hold onto it."

"Thanks..." Kasamatsu replied. He wrapped his fingers around it and held onto it. He glanced back at Luca's other hand, which was holding his old bag from before. "You still have that?" The teen asked, amused. His bag was scuffed with dirt and slightly ratty from its long, dangerous journey. He assumed it was gone ever since Luca gave the leader of the Knights of War the fake USB drive.

The hitman handed him the bag. "Yeah." Luca responded, smirking. "There is still some valuable things in there." He told the teenager.

Kasamatsu raised his eyebrow and unzipped it. He found that same hunk of money that has been there since he first left with Aomine. "I may have forgot about this..." The noirette admitted, dropping it back in his bag. He stood up and put his bag on the bed. "I'll have to give that to my mom later." Kasamatsu made a note in his mind.

"Just so you know, Aomine and I are going out tomorrow." Luca announced after a brief moment of silence. Kasamatsu looked at him, eyes narrowed.

"Why? Does it have something to do with those Knight-guys?" The teenager asked, his fingers squeezing the fabric of his shorts. "Is-... Could I help?"

Luca gave him a soft smile. "It's all right, Yukio. You did your part, you got your family back." The hitman told the teenager. "Besides, Aomine and I can handle those bastards."

"Gee, thanks." Kasamatsu quipped, his voice laced with sarcasm. He crossed his arms defiantly, "I'm not some weak kid, you already know that since we went to the island."

"I know," Luca nodded. "But you need to stay here and watch over your family for us, okay?"

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes and fell back onto his bed. He stared at the ceiling. "Fine..." The eighteen-year old eventually gave in to Luca's wishes. He sat up quickly, his steel-blue eyes narrowed at Luca. "Just don't get hurt." He huffed.

Luca sighed, "I never get hurt, Yukio." He teased. "But I'll be sure to pass on the message to Aomine." The brunette gave the teen a pat on the shoulder.

Kasamatsu sputtered. "I- I don't care if that idiot gets hurt!" He objected, turning his head away from Luca. "Aomine's just an idiot." He realized he called him an idiot twice already but Kasamatsu did not care. It was true.

"Hmph." The noirette huffed.

♦ ♥ ♦

The next day, Kasamatsu woke up to the sound of birds chirping. Streaks of sunlight streamed in through his curtains, illuminating parts of the floor. The teenager sat up slowly, still feeling tired and groggy. He yawned and rubbed his eyes. Kasamatsu got out of bed and went downstairs where he found his mother in the kitchen. He smiled.

It was like before the horrible turn of events. His mother cooking breakfast for everyone while Naoki lay in his bassinet. Yuuta hovered over their youngest brother, playing with him while Kazuki sat at the table, catching up on his homework. The only difference now was that Kazuki was reading a book.

Kasamatsu sat next to his brother, tilting his head to look at the cover of the book. "Where did you get that one?" He wondered, only because he knew Kazuki never owned it beforehand.

"I was exploring last night and it turns out we have a huge library. It's kinda like a study, too."

"Speaking of study," Aiko glanced at her boys after she flipped a pancake. "You all need to get back to school." She told the three. "Akashi-san told me to keep you all at home for the time being so that means home-schooling for Yuuta and online school for Kazuki and Yukio."

"Yay!" Yuuta cheered. He paused, shoulders drooping. "Wait, if I stay at home all day I'll never see my friends again!" The four-year old gasped. He pouted.

"It's just for a while, Yuuta." Kasamatsu told his kid brother. "I'm sure you'll be able to go to first grade in a year or so."

"Oh... Okay." Yuuta grinned.

Kazuki looked up from his book. "Oh yeah, those guys already went out." He told Kasamatsu, eyeing his older brother. "The _ganguro_ said something about being back in a couple days or something."

" _Kazu_." Aiko warned. "That isn't nice."

"Whatever." Kazuki replied with a roll of his eyes. "I just wanted to make sure Yuki-nii knew, that's all." The fourteen-year old stood up from the table and stretched. He walked to the cupboards and rummaged around before he managed to find the plates. He began to set the table as their mother finished cooking.

"To be fair, Luca already told me they were heading out." Kasamatsu mumbled. ' _Although he left out the part of being gone for a couple days._ ' The teenager shrugged and helped his mother dish out the food.

♦ ♥ ♦

Aomine glanced over to the brunette, watching as he typed away on his laptop. "Did you get anything?" The royal blue eyed man asked after a few seconds.

"Nothing yet." Luca replied, eyes scanning the screen as he continued to hack. "The thing about _Vincenzo_ is that he does not want to be found so easily." The emerald eyed man informed. He turned away from his laptop, staring at Aomine.

"But luckily for me, I know where one of his base's are in Tokyo." Luca said, a smug look on his face. He shut the laptop and stood up, tucking it back into his messenger bag.

"So do you want to start there?" Aomine asked as he pulled a knife from its sheath. He stared at his reflection on the sharp blade. He tilted it, imagining it stained with blood. Aomine put it back and focused his attention back on Luca. "We need to finish this once and for all."


	28. Bullet

Aomine had his back against the door which was open a crack – just enough for him to peer through to make sure no one was walking down the hallway to where they were. He craned his neck to see how Luca was doing. The hitman was typing away on the keyboard, his face illuminated by the screen. Aomine turned back to watching the door.

"You said this place was abandoned after the whole ordeal, right?"

"Yeah," Luca replied, half distracted by his current task at hand. He spared Aomine a glance, asking, "Why?"

Aomine shrugged. "I just wanted to know why I need to be look-out if there's no one here." The assassin complained, finding it odd.

"Just because they left this place doesn't mean that they won't patrol still." Luca mumbled. "All there computers and stuff is still here so they haven't even begun to move all there things out yet." The brunette motioned to the computer he was currently hacking.

"Right..." Aomine observed.

The dark blue haired man withheld a sigh, staring into the barely-lit hallway. He supposed that he was just annoyed with being tasked with guard duty. Aomine just wanted to get to the action – he wanted to end Vincenzo's pitiful life. For Yukio. For his mother and brothers. And for his father, the man who hired him in the first place.

"Oh, shit..." Luca cursed softly. Aomine looked over, wondering what was up now. The brunette shook his head, backing up from the screen. "I wish I didn't find this..." The hitman whispered, his voice shaky.

Aomine frowned and walked to where Luca was. He glanced at the screen and blanched, wishing his curiosity had not gotten the better of him. The blue eyed man turned his head away, a queasy feeling welling up in the pit of his stomach.

The screen showed various pictures of Kasamatsu Takeru. Kasamatsu's father. They were not the pleasant kind of photos one would expect to see but terrifying ones of his bloodied and mutilated body. At least, what remained of it. What Vincenzo did to those who crossed him was sick. It was worse than what he did to his enemies.

' _I hope his family will never see these..._ ' Aomine thought sadly. "Delete those..." The tanned skinned man told Luca, returning to his post at the door. He stared into the dimly-lit hall although his mind was still lingering on the photos he just seen. Even the faint scuff of a shoe did not pull him from his thoughts.

" _Aomine!_ " Luca whispered harshly, a hard nudge ripping Aomine from his dark thoughts. The assassin followed the hitman's line of sight and swore under his breath. "The whole point of being a look-out is looking out for the enemy!" The brunette glared at Aomine.

"I know!" Aomine snapped. The pair sprung into action as soon as a group of four men came bursting into the room.

The enemies had their weapons drawn, pointing at them. Aomine and Luca responded the same way, both raising their guns. "Drop it!" One of the men shouted, motioning for the two to drop the guns on the floor. "Tell us what you're doing here!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Aomine drawled, waving his gun around slowly. "We're here to find out where your precious Boss is so we can put a bullet in his head."

"Bastard!" The man closest to Aomine sneered. His squeezed the trigger, the gunshot echoing loudly in the small computer room. The assassin dodged the bullet with ease, thanks to his animal-like reflexes. Aomine wore a dangerous smirk on his face as his grip tightened on his weapon.

"You want to play?" Aomine taunted, his teeth barred at the idea of finally getting to fight. He was beginning to feel restless, anyway.

♦ ♥ ♦

Kasamatsu stared at his computer screen.

His knees were pulled up to his chest and the teen was hugging them. He felt closed off, safe in a way. The teenager was staring at the page to en-roll in online school, the same page he has been staring at for the last 20 minutes. The only thing he managed to fill out was his name. Other than that, Kasamatsu kept on getting lost in his mind. He kept wondering what Aomine and Luca were doing, if they were okay or not.

The more he thought about it, the deeper he ventured into his mind which Kasamatsu learned was a dark place after the events of this last month.

The teenager blinked and rubbed at his eyes. He shook his head and tried to focus back on his computer. He read over the information he still needed to fill out. Kasamatsu put his hands back on the keyboard, finger tips ghosting over the keys. The eighteen year old continued to fill in what was needed, although he wished he did not need to.

Personally, Kasamatsu wanted to go back to his old school. But he knew it was not safe for the time being. Maybe once this all cleared he would be able to go back. He was in his last year of high school – he wanted to finish it with the friends he grew up with. Not waste his time, sitting alone in his room.

Kasamatsu sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time the last half hour. He rubbed at his face, feeling drained despite not doing anything but eat breakfast with his family and shower. His steel-blue eyes flicker to the corner of the screen where it had the time. He groaned, leaning back in his chair.

' _This is going to take a while..._ '

♦ ♥ ♦

Aomine dove to the ground, rotating his body in a way so that he would somersault and end up back on two feet. He rolled and was back up in a matter of seconds, wasting no time in vaulting over one of the tables, pulling it down with him to provide a brief shield from the onslaught of bullets.

Luca seemed to dive in next to him, grunting when he smacked his own head against the table. Before Aomine got the chance to even consider laughing at the brunette, a fresh spray of bullets hit the table. While some were buried in the thick oak, others burst through. Luckily, the bullets that got through missed hitting Luca or Aomine. At most, Luca's arm was grazed but it was nothing too bad.

"Why do I feel like you're happy this is how it turned out?!" Luca shouted over the sound of gun shots.

Aomine grinned, "It's just the way it turned out!" The assassin replied, loading his gun before he sprung up and fired off a few rounds. Blood spurted from one of the guys that took a bullet to the neck. His scream was gurgled as he fell back, clutching at his neck.

"But if we managed to sneak in and out undetected, then it obviously would have been better!" Luca complained as he joined Aomine in taking their domain back.

Aomine rolled his eyes. He spared the emerald eyed man a glance before he focused on eliminating the men in front of him. "This is just how it happened – but I'm not going to complain!" The tanned man smirked.


	29. Dawn

After the conflict the previous day, Luca had talked Aomine's ear off about how certain situations needed to be approached. Aomine only rolled his eyes at Luca's precautions and eventually agreed to follow the hitman's next plan – only if he would quit bugging Aomine.

Luca agreed, with a smile on his face.

"I bet you're really pleased with yourself." Aomine commented, his eyes narrowed. The hitman, who was standing across from him just nodded, making Aomine even more annoyed. The dark blue haired man pushed himself from the wall and brushed past Luca in favour of taking a seat on a bench.

The two were currently situated outside a company building in downtown Tokyo. Luca had read over the files he could get into back at the _Cavalieri di Guerra_ Tokyo Base and learned they had close ties with this one company. The hitman was sure they worked together, although during his time there, he had not heard anything about it.

Luca sighed. He joined Aomine on the bench. The chocolate-brown haired man ran his fingers through his hair. The two were currently camping outside of the tall building, waiting for when it closed and most of the employees went home for the day. Luca told Aomine it would be better this way – it would involve less civilians. Which meant less casualties.

The emerald eyed man pulled his laptop from his messenger bag and began typing away, distracting himself by reading through the files. "Aomine, you know it won't just end even if we take down Vincenzo, right?" Luca spoke quietly, almost carefully. He glanced at the tanned man from the corner of his eyes, searching for a change in expression. "Vincenzo and his gang are apart of a bigger scale, not so much here but back in Italy..."

"I know," Aomine grunted. The man shifted in his seat, craning his neck to stare at the height of the building, seeing the fluffy white clouds sailing in the blue sky. "But we need to do this for the Kasamatsu's. He already took so much from them; we need to get rid of him so he can't take any more."

"Very admirable of you," Luca smiled.

Aomine glared at the Italian, sensing a hidden meaning behind his words. "Whatever." Aomine scoffed, turning his attention to the revolving doors of the building. He watched people enter and exit for a matter of minutes, idly listening to the tapping of keys coming from Luca's laptop.

After another hour went by, Aomine stood up. He stretched his stiff muscles and stifled a yawn. "I think we're in the clear. We want to be in there before they actually lock up, right?"

"Yeah." Luca nodded.

The hitman shut his laptop and slipped it back in his bag. He stood and stretched just as Aomine had. Luca smoothed out the wrinkles in his dark grey suit and fastened his tie, wanting to look professional as they were entering a company building. He glanced at Aomine and resisted the urge to roll his eyes at Aomine's lack of fashion. The man was dressed in a black suit which was left unbuttoned, showing off his royal blue button-up shirt that matched his eyes and hair. His black tie was left loose around his neck. He gave off an overall bored and unimpressed look and aura, which made Luca sigh.

Before the brunette even got the chance to tell Aomine to make himself more presentable, the man had grabbed his briefcase and headed to the entrance, leaving Luca behind. "Oi!" Luca called, speed-walking to catch up to Aomine. "Don't just charge in there, we need to be... Not suspicious."

"Yeah, I know." Aomine retorted, motioning to the briefcase. "That's what this is for."

Luca gave him a funny look, "There's nothing even in there, though."

It was true. Earlier that morning while Luca was packing his laptop and other things away, he noticed Aomine pull out a business-man type briefcase. Aomine dumped out the contents which were some papers and a couple pens before snapping it closed. Luca had given Aomine an odd look but did not question the tanned assassin.

"It doesn't matter," Aomine half-turned to Luca, shrugging his shoulders. "It's not like they need to know." He cocked his head at the secretaries at the front desk. Aomine went to the left and headed for the elevators.

He pressed the button and looked back to Luca who was staring at the digits which told them what floor the elevator was currently at. It was slowly making its way down, with the occasional stop to pick up more people. The two stepped aside as employees and other visitors exited the elevator, leaving it empty.

Aomine and Luca stepped inside and the latter pressed the button to close the doors so they were the only two inside. Aomine glanced up at the camera and blocked part of its vision with his briefcase, stretching and yawning tiredly as Luca inserted a key and began to over-ride the controls. Once he finished, Aomine lowered his briefcase and they waited in silence as they headed to the top floor.

"Remind me what this guys name is?" Asked Aomine as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

Luca glanced at his watch, mentally counting the seconds. "His name is Abe Hisato. I've read that he has met with Vincenzo on multiple occasions, as they share the same interests in the future of the underground world here." The brunette explained. He tore his eyes away from his watch, hoping that they would get the information they needed – as well as be done with Vincenzo all before dawn the next day. But it seemed to be pushing it.

The hitman straightened the closer they got to the top floor. "Are you ready?" He asked, looking at the blue eyed man from the corner of his eyes. Aomine nodded, and Luca smirked. "Good." He approved, holding his chin up as the bell dinged, the doors sliding open.

"Remember: We get the information _without_ causing a disturbance. Don't leave any traces and don't harm anyone that-"

"-That doesn't need to be hurt. _I know._ " Aomine drawled painfully, as if he had been told this over and over again. Luca shook his head as they stepped out. He put a charming smile on his face, nudging Aomine to do the same.

The darker skinned male sighed before

♦ ♥ ♦

After spending some time with his brothers and after Kazuki decided he wanted to be a rebellious teenager and hide away in his room, Kasamatsu went upstairs to his own room. He sat on his bed, not knowing what to do. Yuuta had decided he wanted to watch a movie with their mother while Naoki napped. The older brother would have watched the movie but it was one he had seen at least a hundred times before because it was a favorite of Yuuta's. So Kasamatsu excused himself and headed up to his room.

The teenager looked at the boxes which he pushed into the far corner of his room. He opened a couple and rummaged through them, looking for specific things earlier but Kasamatsu had yet to actually unpack his things. He briefly wondered if he should attempt to unpack but decided against it, mostly because he was too lazy to.

Kasamatsu got off his bed and reached for his bag which was shoved under his bed. Once he grabbed it, the steel-blue eyed teenager fished out the USB drive. He kicked his bag back under his bed and plopped back down on his bed, staring at the device which caused so much chaos and ruin. Kasamatsu's eyes flicked to his laptop, wondering if he should take a look or not.

One side of the teen thought it was something he should not do but the other side told him he should. After a brief mental struggle with himself, Kasamatsu eventually hopped to his feet and sat at his desk. He opened his laptop and lined the USB up with the port. He paused, hesitant.

' _I need to know what's on this – what dad died protecting..._ ' The noirette decided.

Kasamatsu put the USB in and the little screen popped up, asking what he wanted to do. The teen opened the files, eyes gliding over the words and images that popped up on the screen. It was almost too much, having to read about past events and future plans they had for Tokyo's underground world. Kasamatsu's mind spun as he read about targets and area's they owned or planned to over-throw. Drugs, weapons, and human trafficking.

It was disturbing.

The young man tore his eyes away, his hands shaking slightly. After a few minutes, Kasamatsu looked back to the screen, selecting different files. Files which contained precious information about the Knights of War. The information ranged from some of the bases and who they had ties with, allies and enemies alike – as well as the names of each major member.

Kasamatsu breathed out slowly, lowering his eyes. He stared at his hands which rested on his lap, his fingers clutching the fabric of his shorts. The noirette watched his knuckles go white from squeezing his fingers tight, trying to stop his shaking. Once Kasamatsu calmed himself down, he saved a copy and pulled the USB drive out once the files were done downloading.

The teen grabbed a tissue and wrapped it around the USB, cleaning it from his finger prints. He went downstairs and into the kitchen. Kasamatsu put some disposable gloves on and then put the USB in a zip-lock baggy.

Kasamatsu passed by the living room, moving quickly. Before he could safely pass, his mother turned around and called him back. Kasamatsu flinched and turned to his mother, walking up slowly. "Yeah?" He questioned.

"Where are you going in such a rush, Yukio?" Aiko asked, a worried look on her face.

Kasamatsu faltered. "It's-... I just-... I need some air." He whispered, finding it difficult to tell his mother the real reason he needed to go out. He shifted awkwardly on his feet, gloved hand gripping the bag tightly.

Aiko gave her son a look, her lips forming a tight line. "Yukio..." She expressed, eyebrows drawn up as she fretted over her oldest son. "I don't want you going out alone. Akashi-san said it's still dangerous, and-"

"It's fine. I'll be okay, mom. I promise. I just need to get some air and I'll be back soon. I'll bring my phone with me, okay?" Kasamatsu stared at his mother, hating how he made her look so worried.

Aiko sighed once more. "Okay... But if you aren't back in half an hour, I'm going to call those boys and send a search party out for you." His mother warned, giving Kasamatsu a firm glare.

"Okay..." Kasamatsu nodded, although he felt his mother was going overboard. But he knew she would because she did not want to lose her son again. Kasamatsu gave his mother a reassuring smile. "I'll be back soon." He repeated before he spun around on his heel.

He put his shoes on and left their new house, jogging down the long driveway and passing through the big gates which blocked them off from the rest of the world. Kasamatsu paused, looking back to their new home. ' _I just need to do this quickly, then I'll return as soon as I can, mom._ '

Kasamatsu took off in the direction which lead to the busy streets lined with stores and various shops, unaware of the shadow trailing behind him.


	30. Hug

Kasamatsu walked down the side walk, passing by unfamiliar faces. He kept his head down, his hoodie up and eyes glued to his shoes. He glanced up, seeing that he was getting closer to his destination. Kasamatsu squeezed his fingers around the baggy in his pocket, just wanting to get it over with.

He took a deep, calming breath and continued his fast-paced walk.

After a couple minutes, Kasamatsu eventually arrived at the place he was looking for. The noirette hesitated, lingering around outside of the building. After a few seconds, the teenager shook his head and forced himself to walk inside. He stepped out of the way from someone passing by and looked around, lowering his hood.

Kasamatsu walked up to the counter. He wet his lips, staring at the woman who was busy talking on a phone. She glanced at him and held up a finger, telling him she would just be a moment. Kasamatsu nodded but with every second that passed, he felt more and more nervous.

Which was stupid, considering that he was currently at a police station.

The steel-blue eyed teen glanced behind him, unable to help the feeling that he was being tailed or at least _watched_. Perhaps that was the reason why his nerves were getting the better of him. Kasamatsu turned back to the lady when she cleared her throat. "What can I do for you?" She asked, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"Uhm... Well, what do I do if I found something and wanted to turn it in? Should I just give it to you?"

"Is it someone's personal belonging?" She asked, her eyes moving to her computer screen.

Kasamatsu bit his lip as he took the bag out. "No... Or, I don't know. But I... I just know this is dangerous." The teenager told the woman, handing her the bag.

She blinked at him and accepted the zip-lock baggy. She stared at the USB inside, her neatly done eyebrows furrowing. "Okay, well, would you like me to list you-"

"I- I want to be anonymous, if that's okay." Kasamatsu offered the lady a smile.

She nodded, adjusting her glasses so they sat on her face better. "All right, just let me type this in, and-" When the woman looked up, Kasamatsu was gone.

The teenager was out the door the second she turned her gaze back to the computer screen. He left the police station, feeling that he done the right thing. He knew what Aomine and Luca wanted to do but he felt as if this would help take down the Knights of War on a much bigger scale. The police would definitely be able to do much more with all the information on that USB drive.

Kasamatsu put his hood back up and tossed away the latex gloves before he shoved his hands back in his pockets. The teen turned the corner and smacked into someone's chest, causing him to stumble backwards. His head shot up, heart skipping a beat.

"Kasamatsu-kun, what are you doing?"

Kasamatsu heaved a sigh of relief, his shoulders drooping as his tense muscles relaxed. "Kuroko-san..." He mumbled, putting a hand to his face, suddenly embarrassed for getting so scared over nothing. "I-... What are you doing here?" He questioned, frowning.

"My... My mother didn't call you, did she? I mean, I was only gone for fifteen minutes so far, and I-"

"No," Kuroko interrupted the mumbling teen, his hands resting on Kasamatsu's shoulders. He smiled at the steel-blue eyed teen and patted his arm. "She didn't send us after you."

"Okay..." Kasamatsu nodded.

Kuroko tilted his head, eyeing the teen. "But I will walk you back home." The light blue haired man said, motioning for the teenager to continue walking. Kasamatsu blinked but nodded slowly, leading the way back to his new home. Kuroko followed behind, staring at Kasamatsu's back.

"Kasamatsu-kun," Kuroko called, making the younger man turn to look back at him curiously. "If you tell me what you were doing at the police station, I'll tell you why I was lurking around there."

Kasamatsu frowned. He stopped and turned to face Kuroko properly, staring at the light-skinned assassin. "Why?" He asked, eyeing the light blue haired man. "I-..." The younger man half-turned away, rubbing his arm awkwardly since he was at a loss for words.

The noirette did not know if he wanted to tell Kuroko about turning in the USB. He knew he did the right thing but telling someone who was apart of the underworld made him feel as if he would be judged or berated, even. He bit his lip, debating. After a couple minutes, Kasamatsu's steel-blue eyes met with Kuroko's light blue irises. "You know that USB drive my father gave me?"

Kasamatsu was sure that Aomine had told his friends about it, about everything, probably. Any information would have helped when he needed them to get his family back. As expected, Kuroko nodded – confirming his suspicions. Kasamatsu wet his lips. "Okay, well I-... I saw the things that was on that USB and... This is much bigger than just my family and the one guy who threatens us. The police can look at all the files and make the judgment call if they need to involve the PSI or whatever..."

The light blue haired assassin bobbed his head slowly, taking in the younger man's explanation. "I see." Kuroko commented. He stepped around Kasamatsu, now leading the way back to the house. "Truthfully, Akashi-kun wanted me to remain nearby in case there was any trouble. I saw you leave so I decided to follow you to see what you were up to, since you weren't really supposed to leave without one of us accompanying you."

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes at that. "Right." The teen muttered. "I just want this all to be over and done with..." He whispered, his gaze cast to his shoes as he took slow steps, falling behind Kuroko.

The assassin watched the teen from his peripheral vision and once they arrived back at Kasamatsu's new home, Kuroko told the younger man to go inside while he stayed behind. Kuroko pulled his cell phone from his pocket and leaned against the gate. The blue eyed man searched his contacts until he found Aomine's name. He hit the call button.

♦ ♥ ♦

After they finished with their investigation and interrogation, Aomine and Luca were heading back to the motel they were currently staying at. Aomine was in the passenger seat of a car Luca got while the brunette drove. On their way back, Aomine got a call.

He fished his phone from his inner jacket pocket and looked at the screen which had Kuroko's name in capital letters. He arched his eyebrow, wondering what could possibly be wrong. Before he could let a bad feeling set in, Aomine flipped his phone and answered. "What's up, Tetsu?"

The dark blue haired assassin listened to what the shadow had to say. He nodded, both surprised and shocked. "I see..." Aomine replied after a few moments, unsure of what else he could possibly say. The shorter male on the other end of the line continued talking, making Aomine think about what they were doing.

After another minute or so, Aomine lowered the phone from his ear and pressed the red 'end' button. He tossed his phone in the air and caught it on its decent. The tanned man could feel Luca's gaze burning into him, making Aomine twitch from being stared at. He looked at the Italian, wondering what to say or even what to do for that matter.

Aomine listened to Kuroko's suggestion and began to think it would be best for now. As they just learned from Vincenzo's friend, Abe Hisato, everything was on a much grander scale.

The royal blue eyed man pulled himself from his mind and focused his attention back on Luca. "I think we should stop here." He told the Italian. Luca tore his gaze from the road, eyeing him with confused eyes. "With our plan, I mean." Aomine ran a hand through his hair.

"Kuroko told me that Yukio turned the USB in to the police. Because of how big this entire thing is, he thinks its a good idea for them to lay low while the police sort it out. It could be safer this way, too." Aomine nodded to himself, staring at the road in front of them.

Luca slowed to a stop at a red light, his fingers tapping the steering wheel. "I see... That makes sense. I suppose it would give us time to prepare for a bigger fight, if necessary." The Italian spoke, his bright green eyes glued to the traffic lights.

When it turned green, Luca sped forward and moved into another lane before he took a left turn, changing directions. "If that's the case, then we should head back." He glanced at Aomine, who nodded in turn. "Then its settled." Luca smiled.

♦ ♥ ♦

It was dark out by the time Luca and Aomine returned back to the new Kasamatsu household. Kuroko greeted the two at the gates before he told them that he would be leaving for the night. Aomine nodded and bid farewell to his friend before him and the Italian headed inside.

Aomine looked around the new, spacious living room and immediately noticed Aiko on the couch. She was rocking Naoki gently in her arms, a small smile on her face. The love for her baby was obvious and it made him think of his mother. He ignored the brief flash of pain in his chest and walked into the room, clearing his throat. "Hey." He greeted awkwardly.

Aiko looked up. "Oh, Aomine-kun," She smiled at the taller man. The dark haired woman glanced to Luca and greeted them both. "It's nice to see you two in one piece." She chimed.

Luca returned the woman's smile. "Thank you. I'm glad you and the children are better." He replied, staring down at the half-asleep baby. "If you don't mind, I'm going to shower." Luca took his leave, disappearing up the stairs.

Aomine peered back at Aiko, who went back to rocking the small baby in her arms. "If you want to let Yukio know you came back in one piece, he's in his room." The mother told him.

"Oh, okay..." Aomine nodded.

The assassin traced Luca's steps up the stairs and passed by the other rooms until he came to a halt in front of his charge's room. Aomine paused, almost hesitant. He set out with the intention of ending the terrible situation for the teen but as it turned out, Kasamatsu ended it himself. Aomine was not sure if he should feel bad or proud. Maybe he felt a bit of both.

Aomine knocked on the door. "Come in," Came Kasamatsu's soft reply. The dark blue haired man twisted the handle and pushed the door open. He spotted Kasamatsu sitting on his bed, his arms wrapped around his knees which were pulled close to his chest. When the younger man saw him, his steel-blue eyes widened.

"Aomine," He said, getting off his bed. "What are- When did you get back? Did you-... How-"

"Yukio," Aomine chuckled as he approached the teenager. He sat on the bed, making Kasamatsu sit down as well. "Chill out. Luca and I are fine. We dug up some info about Vincenzo and we were going to head out again but then I got a call from Kuroko."

"Oh..." Kasamatsu lowered his gaze, staring at his lap. He chanced a look at Aomine through his dark lashes before diverting his eyes away. "As long as you guys are okay..." He whispered, suddenly not knowing what to do with himself.

Kasamatsu knew he should have expected Kuroko to tell the others but he was not expecting to see Aomine and Luca back so soon. He figured they might have continued their search for Vincenzo but in the end, they decided to let the law handle that criminal scum. He was glad they came back, though. Mostly because it meant they would not have to sacrifice their lives for his family anymore.

The teenager smiled softly.

"Why are you smiling?" Aomine wondered. "Are you that happy to see me?" He asked jokingly, tilting his head to try and peer at Kasamatsu's face. He could already see the beginnings of a blush forming and it reminded him of their earlier days together where Aomine would tease the younger man.

"Yes..." Kasamatsu admitted quietly.

The steel-blue eyed teen's honest reply made Aomine choke on his own spit. He coughed and slapped his chest, trying to regain his breath. "O- Oh..." Aomine replied stupidly, at a loss for words. He scratched his cheek, staring down at the smaller man. "Well, I-"

Before Aomine got the chance to say anything else, Kasamatsu buried his face in Aomine's chest, his arms wrapping tightly around his torso. Aomine blinked, stunned. The tanned man slowly wrapped his arms around the teen, returning his big hug. "I missed you, too." Aomine grunted.

"Thanks..." Kasamatsu murmured into Aomine's chest, not wanting to say the same thing because it would be too embarrassing. Hell, his face was already burning which is why he was hiding it from the older man.

After a minute or so, Kasamatsu finally pulled away.

His embarrassment had melted away but then it returned when he realized how long he had been hugging Aomine. He turned his face away from the man, his cheeks tinted red. "... Sorry." Kasamatsu mumbled, his arms crossed over his chest.

Aomine only chuckled in response. "It's okay, Yukio..." He replied quietly, staring at the flushed face of the teenager. Aomine studied Kasamatsu's features, thinking back to when they first met. He found himself wishing it had been under different circumstances but then again, it was how fate turned out.

Maybe Aomine was destined to be the one hired by Kasamatsu's father.

The very thought of fate and destiny made Aomine laugh. Mostly because he did not believe in it. On the other hand, Aomine was one that believed everything happened for a reason. The assassin shook his head, pushing those complex thoughts away. He turned his attention back to Kasamatsu, tilting his head in curiosity.

The still flushed cheeks of Kasamatsu was putting ideas into his mind and Aomine was beginning to think it was bad to be near the teenager. However, as much as Aomine wanted to get up and leave Kasamatsu's room, he found that he had moved closer to the younger man.

In fact, Aomine's fingers had found Kasamatsu's chin and turned his face to him, staring into his steel-blue orbs which were big and shining with emotion. It made his heart beat quicken as he gradually leaned forward, his eyes sinking to Kasamatsu's parted lips...


	31. Goodbye

Aomine's lips connected with the younger man's.

Kasamatsu's eyes widened briefly, surprised by the sudden kiss. His cheeks burned and he squeezed his eyes shut, feeling Aomine's chapped lips moving against his own. The noirette's heart raced within its cavern, the palms of his hands suddenly clammy. Just as he was getting used to the feeling of Aomine's wet lips against his own, the older man pulled away.

"Sorry..." Aomine apologized, his voice hoarse. He turned away from the teen, hiding his face.

Kasamatsu just blinked, his mind still clouded over. "Wha-..." Realizing what just happened, the teen felt his face burn even brighter, if possible. His whole head felt hot, like he was going to die. His heart was pounding and Kasamatsu could have sworn there were butterflies in his stomach. He swallowed, his lips still tingling from the kiss. "I- It's okay." The steel-blue eyed teen replied after a moment of collecting his thoughts.

Aomine snorted, suddenly laughing.

It made Kasamatsu glare at him. "Don't mess with me!" Kasamatsu huffed out, punching the man's arm.

"Ouch," Aomine rubbed his arm, his smirk of amusement still on his face. "I'm not messing with you, Yukio. I think I've wanted to do that for a while, though..." The assassin admitted, scratching his cheek as if to hide his embarrassment.

"Hmph." Kasamatsu huffed.

Aomine smiled. "Brat." He playfully nudged the smaller man's shoulder, making Kasamatsu roll his eyes at him. The older man stood up from the bed, brushing the wrinkles from his clothes. He glanced down at the teen, studying him for a few moments. "Yukio,"

Kasamatsu arched his eyebrow, "What?"

"I think after tonight, we're going to head off..." Aomine told the eighteen-year old. "Akashi wants me back at base but he'll have someone watching the house just in case. Also, you can call me anytime you want, if you need help, or..." The royal blue eyed man trailed off, looking away from Kasamatsu.

"I see," Kasamatsu nodded slowly.

The raven head knew it was inevitable. He knew he would have to say goodbye to Aomine eventually but suddenly it all seemed to soon. Kasamatsu found himself wishing that the man would hang around longer but he knew there was nothing else he could really do. The teen lifted his gaze, staring at Aomine who was currently entertaining himself by watching Kasamatsu's clock tick away the seconds. Kasamatsu shook his head, amused by the man.

He said, "I'll miss you, _Ahomine_."

Aomine tore his eyes away from the clock in order to glare at Kasamatsu. " _Cheeky_ brat." He corrected himself from earlier. Aomine pinched Kasamatsu's cheek, chuckling at how the teen smacked his hand away from his face. "What? You'll let me kiss you but I can't pinch your cheek?"

Kasamatsu sputtered, his face going red all over again. "Sh- Shut up." He muttered, glaring up at Aomine. He ignored the warm laughter coming from Aomine and pushed himself off the bed. Kasamatsu leaned close to Aomine, hugging him once more.

"I mean it. Despite everything that happened, I'll miss you..." Kasamatsu told the older man. He briefly wondered if Aomine has heard this before from some other people he helped but in the end, Kasamatsu pushed those thoughts away.

Aomine returned Kasamatsu's hug, "I know." He said quietly. "But I'm just a phone call away." The assassin winked, making Kasamatsu push him away in embarrassment.

♦ ♥ ♦

The next day, the Kasamatsu family were saying their goodbye's to Aomine and Luca.

Aomine was returning back to his friends while Luca was going to return to Italy. The Italian was sure things were going to go down there, considering it was where the roots of Cavalieri di Guerra lay. Kasamatsu made Luca promise that he would not get in too deep and to be safe.

Kazuki claimed he was glad to see the two leave, his nose turned up at them. Although his older brother knew Kazuki was only putting on a show, knowing he thought they were pretty cool. Yuuta had teary eyes as he hugged Aomine and Luca's legs, his bottom lip quivering as he said goodbye.

Aiko thanked them again for helping her family and grabbed Naoki's tiny hand, helping the baby wave to the two men. Naoki giggled in turn, his clear grey-blue eyes glittering with happiness.

Kasamatsu gave the two a hug each, mumbling out, "Goodbye..."

"Bye, Yukio. Although I'm sure you'll hear from me again." The brunette smiled, patting Kasamatsu's head softly. Luca waved to the others after he went to stand by the door, waiting for Aomine since they would be leaving together.

Aomine ruffled Kasamatsu's dark locks. "See ya, brat." The assassin said.

Kasamatsu rolled his eyes at Aomine's choice of endearment. "See you. _Ahomine._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still debating if I should make a sequel,
> 
> or if I should even do 31 Days of AoKasa this year in August?
> 
> I'm going to be going to AniRevo, so I'll see how it goes and how I feel.
> 
> Anyway,
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the story! ♥ Thanks for reading!


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